It's A Family Thing
by ghfann5
Summary: Sam McCall and Kristina Davis-Corinthos are both strong and determined women, so they never ask for help when they really need it. But now, they're going to have to rely on the men they love, their family and especially each other in order to keep going.
1. Chapter 1: I Miss You

"I'm going to miss you."

She knew that he meant it. Hell, she would believe anything he said right now, wrapped in his arms.

"I already miss you." Kristina reluctantly lifted her head from her lover's bare chest, but it was worth it to look into his eyes, gazing lovingly into hers. She had wanted this for so long. She thought about how unbelievably right this felt, and how incredibly wrong it was. But she didn't care. This is where she was meant to be. She was sure of it.

Ethan grinned at the girl lying on top of him. "What are smiling at?" he said with that thick Australian accent that drove Kristina wild.

"I'm smiling at you. You make me happy."

Even as she said that, her smile began to fade. "What's wrong?" he asked, slowly sitting them up in his bed.

"I'm leaving, but I don't want to leave you."

"Krissy, you're not leaving for another two months. We'll deal with it then."

His confidence had little effect on her. She knew that their time together was coming to an end, no matter how they felt about each other.

She just sighed and allowed Ethan to pull her back into his arms.

"I miss you."

"I miss you, too."

Sam sighed, leaning against the counter in her boyfriend's kitchen. The penthouse was unbearably empty without him.

"This should all be over by tomorrow, and then I'm coming home to you."

_Yeah, right_, Sam thought. It seemed like lately whenever she needed him, he was pulled off into some adventure. Without her.

"This lead that Lucky gave us could lead me and Dante right to Franco."

"I know, I know. I'll be waiting for you when you get home. I love you."

"I love you, too."

"You boys have fun."

Jason gave a small grunt before hanging up. Sam chuckled softly. It was still weird to her that those three worked so closely together. It just seemed so unlikely that her ex, her current boyfriend, and the undercover cop he once thought of as a traitor would make such a great team. But she was glad that he had backup. Going after Franco wasn't going to be easy, or safe.

And she needed Jason to come back in one piece.


	2. Chapter 2: Three Months Earlier

_**Three Months Earlier... **_

Ethan was stopped in his tracks.

He didn't know why. He stood just inside Kelly's, completely unsure of what to do. This was ridiculous. There was no reason at all to be nervous. He just needed to go in, grab his coffee, and get out. It was just Kristina. Kristina, who, only a couple of weeks earlier, informed him that she was going to marry him someday.

He wasn't nervous, he decided, while watching the young brunette sitting at the counter. He was...scared. Scared because when she told him that, even though he laughed at the thought, he wanted it. He had never really considered before who he truly wanted to spend the rest of his life with, if anyone. But Kristina had conjured up these new thoughts in him, about her and their future together, and he was afraid of thinking and feeling that way.

But there were even more pressing things that he had to be afraid of. Her parents. Her sister. Her brothers. His wife.

Thinking of Maya seemed to bring him back to reality. _Reason why it's wrong number 12_, he noted mentally. He had been finding reasons since that night why it would be wrong.

But she was still there, right in front of him. She was beautiful without even trying. Really, just the simple act of her lifting a cup to her lips was breathtaking for Ethan. _Just turn around and walk away._

But he continued to stand there, watching her, until she saw him.

"Ethan!" she exclaimed, waving him over.

What other choice did he have, now that she had seen him?

He walked over to her and nodded his 'hello.'

"Sit down," she insisted.

Ethan fought the urge to sit with her and strike up one of their aimless conversations that always made him smile.

"Nah, I just stopped by to get some quick coffee to go."

Kristina's face fell a little, but she recovered quickly. "That's alright," she said, looking over Ethan's shoulder. "I'll just go hang with Taylor."

Ethan looked behind him at the young boy entering Kelly's.

Taylor smiled and gave a small wave to Kristina, not approaching her. Instead, he sat down at a table.

Ethan thought maybe he was just trying not to be rude. _A gentleman._

That was good. Kristina needed a good guy in her life.

"I'll see you around," Kristina said, leaving Ethan for her classmate.

_She needs someone her own age_, he listed reason number 13.

Still, he couldn't help but think that this kid wrong for her. He watched as Kristina happily chatted away with the boy.

Ethan suddenly couldn't bear the scene, so he decided to leave, making sure he didn't look at Kristina on his way out.

Kristina glanced up as Ethan exited Kelly's while pretending to listen to Taylor. She looked at his empty hands and smiled mischievously to herself. She was sure she had desired effect on him.

Ethan was only a few yards away from Kelly's when he stopped to take a breath to calm his nerves. That reminded him that he could really use some...

"Damn."

He forgot to get his coffee.

"Ah."

There were maybe two things Sam loved more in the morning than coffee. She'd be lost without it. The only thing wrong with drinking coffee in the morning at Jason's were the constant interruptions. Sam had just settled onto the couch when an annoying knocking came at the door. She thought about answering it, but honestly, she had only taken one sip and wasn't energized enough for that. Besides, she knew that Jason would get it.

As expected, Jason came jogging down the stairs from his room. "I'll get it," Sam said, unmoving. Jason ignored her and answered the door.

When Jason opened the door, Lucky appeared, with "Serious Business" written all over his face and a manila envelope in hand.

"Can I come in?" he asked. Jason cleared the way for him to enter. He nodded to Sam, who merely grunted back in return. Lucky looked at the oversized cup of coffee in her hands, understanding all too well Sam in pre-caffeinated mode.

Lucky turned his attention back to Jason. "It's about Franco."

Suddenly Sam's interest was piqued. The mere mention of that psycho made the hairs on her neck stand. She tried not to have an obvious reaction. No need to worry anyone. But the memory of being kidnapped and taunted and threatened by Franco had always stuck with her. Not that she would say anything about it.

"What about him?" Jason asked cautiously, closing the door.

"He sent you another message, via Maxie. Again."

"What was the message?"

Lucky glanced hesitantly at Sam, who just watched with a raised eyebrow. He handed the envelope to Jason.

Jason recognized Lucky's reluctance to reveal the new information in front of Sam. Jason opened the envelope, careful to keep his composure in front of his girlfriend. He pulled out the pictures that Franco sent. Every muscle in his body tensed, but he tried to calm himself so Sam wouldn't catch on. Not yet, anyway. He didn't want her to worry.

"What is it?" she asked right on cue. Jason continued to look through the photographs.

"Nothing," he answered, shoving the pictures back into the envelope. "Just more of his artwork."

Sam knew he wasn't telling the truth. Before she could question him, her cell phone began to buzz on the coffee table. She picked up her phone, rolling her eyes at the name on the caller I.D. Still, she decided to answer it. "Hi, mom. Right now? Yeah, sure. I'm on my way." Sam hung her phone and grudgingly got up and grabbed her jacket and boots, explaining that her mother was having some kind of crisis and needed her help. She couldn't help but look sadly at her neglected cup of coffee sitting on the table, losing steam. She hurriedly gave Jason a hug and muttered a goodbye to both of them, then went on her way.

Jason looked after her, worried. He took the pictures out again and walked slowly over to the couch. He moved Sam's disregarded mug and spread the photos out. Lucky walked over to the side of the table, trying to decipher what Jason was thinking. Time to kill Franco, probably.

Lucky was the first to break the silence. "The best I can figure," he started, "is that he sent this to Maxie simply because she was the easiest to access. And because he wanted to mess with her head. And yours."

Jason didn't say anything as he studied the pictures, disgusted. Pictures of Sam. Michael. Spinelli. Carly. Mostly of Sam, though. The pictures of her weren't like the others. They were just out doing everyday things. There were a couple of shots of Michael with Abby, entering Kelly's. Carly was getting into her car. Spinelli walking out of the drug store with a bottle of orange soda. These were all bad enough. Just knowing that Franco was ever that close made him angry. But the pictures of Sam were disturbing. Her pictures were taken inside her apartment. Jason had no idea how Franco had done it, but he managed to get too close to the woman he loved. Jason was not going to sit idly by. And he knew that Franco knew that, but still.

There was no doubt about it. He was going to kill Franco.


	3. Chapter 3: Up All Night

Sleep was the furthest concern on Jason's list of things to do.

A maniac was threatening his family, and Jason was afraid that he was the only one who could stop him. All of that mess with the Balkan had placed Franco on the backburner of Jason's mind. After Sonny's limo exploded and Franco had contacted him, he should have immediately started looking for him, but Sam had been hurt, and...and now, her life was in danger again because she was connected to Jason.

He had spent most of the day trying to formulate a plan. Trying to give Spinelli as little information as possible, he had his hacker friend working every cyber angle to find any leads on Fracno, with strict orders not to mention anything to Sam. He knew that wouldn't last long. He had a team of guards watching his girlfriend. He also placed a guard on everyone else targeted in the photos, as well as Maxie. He knew that Sam and Carly would probably be furious at him for not telling them, but he would go to any lengths if it meant keeping them safe.

He knew that Sam was tough, one of the strongest women he had ever known. She could easily hold her own in any shootout or hostage situation. And a lot of the time, she was put into dangerous situations at her own insistence. Jason loved that she was brave and that she could be his partner in everything, but she had too many close calls just in the time that he'd known her. And he would be damned if he was the cause of another one.

Sam couldn't sleep, but she really wanted to.

She hadn't done much of anything that day, except visiting her family. Still, she was exhausted. It wasn't that her family was just _so_ tiring, although they could be a bit overwhelming at times, but Sam was worn out for a completely different reason.

Since she came home from the hospital, she'd occasionally have these blinding headaches. But Patrick warned her of the possible side-effect.

Now she lay in bed, writhing in pain. The migraines had been getting progressively worse, but this was by far the most painful. With her eyes shut tightly, she brought her pillow to her mouth and bit down on it, attempting to stifle the scream surging from her body.

She was sure the worst of it only lasted a couple of minutes, but the severity of it left her panting, her whole body ablaze. She slowly rolled over onto her back and tried to focus on the ceiling as her muscles began to relax. Feeling the dizziness begin to wear off, she felt a familiar liquid sliding down her cheek. She reached for the box of Kleenex on the stand next to her bed, too beat to get up and make her way to the bathroom.

As she began to clear the blood from her face, she was relieved that she had decided to go home to her own place tonight. She could tell that he was dealing with something, and she didn't need to add to his worries.

Kristina woke in bed from a fitful sleep.

It was nothing new. She hadn't had many full nights of sleep for a long time. For almost a year, she was lucky if she got five hours of sleep a night.

Sometimes she still had nightmares about Kiefer. Not the violent kind where he would chase her and yell at her and beat her over and over again. Not those, but the scary kind, where he would talk to her in his condescending tone. He wouldn't raise his voice. He just made her sit and listen to him tell her what a bitch and a whore she was. How everything that had ever gone wrong in Kristina's life was her fault, and no one else's. She might as well have killed him herself. Instead, she hid behind her mother, like always.

Kristina sat up and tossed her comforter aside. She wished tonight was one of those rare nights that she had a good dream. She sighed and got out of bed, walking over to her desk and opening her laptop.

She didn't know why she did it. Maybe she wanted some way to punish herself. She logged into the chat room frequented by most of Madison's students, just to see if there was anything new. Of course, there was. Everyone knew Kristina, and almost all of them had something to say about her. She read through the posts, her eyes stinging at the fact that she was now a punch-line at school. Kristina exited the chat room and shut her laptop down.

They didn't know her. They judged her. They made fun of her. But none of them really knew Kristina. They only bothered to know what they'd heard on the rumor mill.

The only people at Madison Prep that seemed to care to know anything about her were Michael and Taylor. Even though Michael was a true ally in that place, he didn't really count. He was her brother. It was his job to look out for her and listen to her. And Taylor...luckily, he hadn't been poisoned by the vicious lies being spread by Kristina's former friends. He was a great friend. And he liked her. She didn't really understand why. It was known throughout town that she was damaged. That's why no one ever wanted to be around her.

That's why Ethan would never want her.

Ethan roamed the halls, trying to clear his mind.

Since moving into the Quartermaine mansion, Ethan had finally mastered the maze of a house. He came "home" today with the intention of having a serious discussion with his wife. Not surprisingly, she texted him that she was going to be working late at the hospital again. At first this annoyed him, but then he figured it was for the best. It would give him a chance to gather his thoughts and figure out what he wanted to say.

He had walked briefly in the park earlier, after convincing himself that he couldn't even be friends with Kristina. He was a married man, and he owed it to Maya to try to put more effort into their relationship. He wanted them to have a real, loving marriage, even if it took a little extra work. That's when he made the plan to lay it all out on the table for Maya. Let her know that he was serious. She didn't deserve to be left behind because some girl had a crush on him.

Now, wandering through the halls, he wondered if that was the best thing to do. Was it really fair of him to use Maya to forget about Kristina? After all, that was what he was doing now. And it wasn't fair, not to his wife, to Kristina, or even to himself.

But how would he begin to have _that_ conversation? He was fairly sure that Maya had developed feelings for him. And he really did care for her. He didn't want to hurt her. And telling her that he was leaving her for a seventeen year old would probably hurt.

Some days, he deeply regretted that drunken night in Vegas. Not the days when Edward reminded him of the million-dollar payoff if he stuck with the marriage, but those days when he got to spend time with Kristina and make her smile.

If only there was a way he could have it all, without hurting anyone.


	4. Chapter 4: Two Weeks

**_(so sorry for the wait, i'm not really sure aboout this chapter...)_**

Two weeks.

It had been two whole weeks since Sam experienced one of her extreme headaches. Then today, all of a sudden, it wanted to pop back into her life.

She woke up in bed with Jason to the most intense headache yet. She was still cuddled with Jason and she didn't want to alert him, but there was no hiding it.

She felt this incredible surge of pain strike her head. Before she knew it, she was screaming aloud, clutching her head in both hands.

And that was the last thing she remembered.

Jason had been awake, watching Sam as she slept. She seemed so at peace, with her hair tumbled about her face and her mouth pouting like always. He didn't want to disturb her. He didn't want to burden her with Franco's threats. He just wanted her to be like this, safe and with him.

He turned his gaze towards the ceiling, contemplating whether or not keeping this from Sam was the right thing. After all, it _was_ her life that was in danger. She would definitely want to help out any way she could. But he didn't want her to _have_ to help.

Jason sighed and closed his eyes, knowing that it was time to tell her. He opened his eyes again and looked back at the sleeping figure.

It was then that Sam's body suddenly tensed up and her face scrunched. He was about to shake her awake, thinking she must be having a nightmare, when she let out a spine-chilling scream.

"Sam!" He quickly sat straight up, taking Sam into his arms.

"Sam, tell me what's wrong!" But then the screaming stopped, and her body went limp.

"Sam?"

Two weeks.

It had been two weeks since Kristina had any contact with Ethan. She knew that he was avoiding her, and she was pretty sure she knew why.

Kristina was aware of how pushy she had been. Some might even call it obsessive. But no one understood this connection she felt towards him.

One of the two times she had ever mentioned him to her therapist, she was forced to consider that what she felt for Ethan was just a Hero complex. He _did_ save her from Keifer, on more than one occasion.

However, that idea was quickly dismissed. She knew how she felt. And she was almost positive that she was way past _falling_ in love with Ethan. She was undeniably IN LOVE with Ethan Lovett.

But he wouldn't even give her the time of day.

Now, she was sitting alone in her grandfather's diner, with the most miserable expression.

Ethan stood outside of Kelly's and once again watched Kristina at the counter. Only now, the usually bubbly girl was sulking. And Ethan knew that he was the reason.

In had been two of the hardest weeks in his life, but he stayed away from her. He wasn't going to give in now.

"Hey! You just gonna stand there?"

The voice from behind startled him, and he quickly turned around.

"Maya, hey."

"Why do you look like you just got caught with your hand in the cookie jar?"

Ethan tried to regain his composure. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Maya eyed her husband suspiciously, but decided to let it go. "Fine. Let's just go in and get something to eat. I'm starving!" She started to walk to the door, but before she could touch it, Ethan grabbed her wrist. She looked up at him confused. "What?"

"Uh—um," Ethan struggled to find a good enough reason not to go inside besides _The girl I like is in there but she's mad at me, so I can't see her._

"Actually, I'm feeling like Chinese today." _So lame. And transparent._

"But you're the one who suggested that we meet here. What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing. I just changed my mind."

Maya pursed her lips for a moment. "No, there's something up with you."

"Isn't there always?" The new voice made Maya turn around this time. "Lucky!"

Ethan nodded towards his brother.

"What's up?" he asked, looking only at Maya.

"Well," she answered, "we were supposed to have dinner here today, but Ethan suddenly wants Chinese."

"But you're already here."

"Thanks for stating the obvious," Ethan said sarcastically.

"I'm just saying, why be difficult, man? Just go inside and eat something."

"I'm just not in the mood for it, alright?" Ethan snapped. He knew it was just playful banter between brothers, but this whole thing with Kristina had him a little on edge.

"Wow," Maya said, stepping between them. "If you want Chinese food that badly, then go ahead. But if you don't mind, I'm going to go inside and have a couple of burgers." Maya headed towards the door.

"I think I'll join you," Lucky said, following behind and leaving Ethan alone with his thoughts. Which automatically slipped back to Kristina.

How in the world was he ever going to get over this girl? Sure, he was trying, but with each passing day it just got harder to be away from her, which was the complete opposite of what he thought would happen.


	5. Chapter 5: Wishful Thinking

_**A/N: Sorry, the wait was not acceptable. I'm just really terrible at finishing what I start, but I'm getting better. Anyway, I already started working on the next chapter. It should be up by at least this weekend. And remember, reviews-good or bad-are greatly appreciated.**_

"Jason?"

Jason looked up from Sam to see Robin standing at the door. "Is there any change?" It was a question he felt he had asked too many times.

"Can we talk outside?" Jason looked back to Sam, her fragile body lying on the hospital bed, her chest slowly rising and falling. Reluctantly, he stood and let go of her hand, following the doctor to the hallway, joining her husband.

"What's wrong?"

"We've run all of the tests necessary to assess the cause of Sam's pain," Patrick started.

Robin concluded: "From what we've seen, there is no medical reason that we could find that may have caused this."

Jason looked back and forth between the doctors, confused. "So...so what does that mean? She didn't just scream out in pain and pass out for no reason." Jason tried to control his raising voice, but his emotions were getting the better of him. "There's something wrong with her."

Patrick took over again, trying to calm Jason's nerves. "We'll know more once she wakes up and we ask her a few questions, but from what we've seen, there is nothing seriously wrong."

Robin looked past her inconsolable friend and into Sam's hospital room. "She's awake," she said.

Jason was the first one by Sam's side, taking her hand in his.

"What happened?" she asked groggily. She tried to sit up, but lifting her head made her dizzy.

"Just take it easy, Sam," Patrick instructed, appearing at Sam's other side. "How are you feeling?"

"Um, a little dizzy, I guess. Why? What happened?"

Jason rubbed circles with his thumb over her hand. She turned to see his worried face. She wasn't sure what was wrong, but her hand automatically lifted to the side of his face, trying to comfort him.

"Sam, are you in any pain?"

She didn't even bother to tear her gaze from Jason's as she answered Robin's question. "No. Just a little dizzy and confused." She gave Jason a small smile to reassure him of this.

"Do you remember what happened this morning?" Sam thought for a moment, unsure of what actually happened that day. Then slowly, she remembered awaking to a torturous pain in her head. She grimaced at the memory.

"I had a bad headache," she downplayed, "and that was the last thing I remember."

"Have you been experiencing these headaches often?"

Now Sam looked at Patrick.

"Yes, but...you told me to expect that, right?"

Patrick sighed. "Yes, but I expected them to gradually lessen, not get worse. I need you to be completely honest with me Sam. How bad are the headaches?"

She could feel Jason's eyes on her. She thought about telling the truth. She knew now that if it was bad enough to cause hospitalization, she needed help. But Jason's life didn't need any added burdens, especially from her. She knew that he would find a way to blame this on himself. Besides, she did not need any reason to be stuck in this hospital any longer. "Not that bad," she lied easily. "Today was just the worst I've ever experienced."

She threw a timid glance at Jason. She could already see the suspicion in his eyes.

She looked back at Patrick, who was also staring at her skeptically. "What?" she asked innocently.

"It's just that you have a tendency to make light of how you're really feeling. Sam, the only way for us to help you is for you to tell us the truth."

Sam surveyed everyone in the room, who were all waiting for an answer.

"Patrick, I promise, I'm fine." Which wasn't a _complete_ lie. At the moment, the dizziness had passed and she felt like nothing had even happened.

Patrick studied her for a moment longer before sighing. "As long as you're sure..."

"I'm sure."

"Then we have no further reason to keep you here," Robin concluded with hesitation. "But if you have any more of these severe headaches, please come back. In the meantime, keep taking the medication we prescribed and you should be fine."

She smiled and Sam and Jason before leaving the room with her husband in tow.

"Sam."

Sam peered up at Jason. He looked like he was waiting for her to tell him something.

"Okay," she said. "Get me out of here. I hate hospitals."

"Kristina?"

Kristina looked up from her notebook to her grandfather. "You okay?" he asked with a concerned look.

"Yes. Why?"

"You just look a little down, and I hate seeing you with a frown on your face."

"I'm fine," she said closing her notebook. She hadn't even realized that she _had_ been frowning. "I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"Ah, life," she breathed out dramatically but with a joking smile.

The old man chuckled. "Anything I can do to take your mind off of life's troubles?"

"No, Grandpa Mike. I'm fine, really. Thanks."

Mike nodded and walked back to the kitchen, leaving Kristina to revisit her previous thoughts.

She was asking herself what in the world she had to be sad about. She had a good family—she and her father had finally started to turn over a new leaf—and a great education, not to mention a bright future ahead of her. So she didn't have friends, and the one guy she wanted avoided her like the plague. And her dead abusive ex-boyfriend haunted her dreams. And everyone thought of her either as a baby or a joke. And she was in therapy.

Really, it could be worse.

Kristina sighed and turned in her seat, facing the door as soon as the next customer entered. Her stomach plummeted as she saw Maya open the door, talking happily to someone behind her. Kristina was really in no mood to watch Ethan be happy with his _wife_.

However, the color began to return to her face as she saw the man Maya was with. She smiled in relief.

Maya and Lucky quickly found a table and sat. Kristina watched them for a minute. _Why couldn't it be like this?_

The pair seemed to be thoroughly enjoying their conversation. It was hard for Kristina to hate Maya, because she was a good person and she was always nice to her. But Kristina just knew that she and Ethan would be so great together. Looking at Lucky and Maya together, Kristina couldn't help but think that her life would be so much less complicated if Maya had fallen for the other Spencer.

Kristina turned back to her notebook.

_Just wishful thinking_.


	6. Chapter 6: Alexis

**_sorry for the wait, but i decided to switch things up at the last minute. this chapter is kinda different because i included the viewpoints of alexis, nikolas, and a little bit of molly, just to include the whole family. after the next chapter, i'll give you more of jason and ethan. i hope you enjoy_**

"Mom!"

"Mom."

"Mom?"

As usual, Alexis could barely keep up with her daughters as the conversations floated over the dinner table.

It was not easy dealing with three girls who all had lives and problems of their own. But this was nice, spending much-needed time with her girls. It was rare that she could get all of them together to sit for a meal, what with Sam's work or Kristina's studies or Molly's seemingly daily visits to her friends' houses. Without Alexis' mandated biweekly family dinners, she would never have this girl time with them, save for the too-often visits to the hospital.

Now, she was just enjoying watching her daughters and listening to them talk over each other. That's when she decided: she would miss this the most.

She was lost in her own thoughts when her daughters interrupted them in unison.

"What?" Alexis asked, shaking out of her trance.

"I said, why do we have to wait to eat?" her youngest asked.

"Because, Molly, not everyone is here yet."

"What are you talking about? It's just the four of us, like always. Unless you invited a certain police commissioner to join us...?" Kristina mused. She wanted nothing more than anything for her mother to finally open up and really let Mac into her life.

"No, it's not Mac." Alexis sighed. No matter how many times she warned her daughters, they would not stop scheming to get her and Mac Scorpio together. Well, they would stop their efforts soon enough.

"Well..." Sam said, not one to enjoy sitting in suspense. "Who is it?"

Alexis opened her mouth to say something just as a knock came at the door.

"Why don't you go see," Alexis said, gesturing to the door with her hand. Before Sam could get the chance, Molly sprang up and ran to open the door. She was pleasantly surprised to see the man on the other side. "Nikolas!"

"Hello," Nikolas greeted his youngest cousin with a hug. "May I come in?"

"Of course you may," Molly answered. She always enjoyed playing manners with Nikolas. She loved that he was always a complete gentleman. She opened the door wider to allow Nikolas to enter.

"Hey," Sam said. It was almost always nice to see her cousin, but she was a bit suspicious. She knew that he and Alexis were close, but Nikolas only had dinner with them all maybe twice, both times at Windemere at his invitation. And why keep his visit a secret?

Nikolas nodded to Sam. "Hi." He walked over to his aunt and kissed her on the forehead. "Hello." Alexis smiled gently in response.

"Hi Nikolas. Where's Spencer?" Kristina had grown pretty close to the boy over the past few months.

"Oh, he's already out for the night. He was worn out after playing with Cam and Jake all day."

"Well, as glad as I am that you're here, can we all sit down so we can eat? I'm starving."

Nikolas smiled at Sam and he and Molly promptly took their seats. Dinner commenced and new conversations filled the air.

Sam furtively glanced at her mother throughout dinner. Alexis' facial expressions frequently changed from wondering to sadness to confusion to pain and back again. And she barely spoke—only occasionally giving one word opinions or reprimanding Sam for her language. No, this was not a typical family dinner.

And everyone noticed.

Alexis was once again getting out of her own thoughts when she caught the end of Sam and Nikolas' banter.

"Well, _I_ haven't been hospitalized in the last month, so I beg to differ."

"What?" Alexis was sure she misheard, but knowing her family, she probably hadn't.

Sam looked away from her mother and down at her half-eaten meal.

"It's no big deal," she mumbled into her food.

"'Not a big deal?'" Alexis was at full alert now. "Why were you in the hospital?"

"Nothing to worry about. I was just having these really bad headaches, so I decided to have them checked out. Everything's fine."

She looked up to meet her cousin's eyes, which harbored slight disappointment.

"And are you _sure_ that you're fine?"

Sam looked up and gave her mother a reassuring smile that she had been practicing. "I'm sure."

"Good."

After dinner and dessert was finished, the family gathered in the living room at Alexis' request.

They all sat in silence for a few minutes. Usually after dinner, Alexis would dismiss them and they would just go about their lives outside the lake house.

Finally, Alexis broke the silence.

"Well, I didn't ask you all in here so we could all stare at each other, so let me just get to the point."

Alexis cleared her throat and put on a serious demeanor. Business-like was the only way she could do this; just lay all her cards on the table and try not to get emotional.

"As you all may or may not have noticed, I haven't been all too well lately. A while ago I developed a cough and I just figured it was a cold. But then the cough wouldn't go away and it got worse. I began to worry, so I scheduled an appointment with my doctor, and it was revealed that my cancer has returned. Now, before any of you say anything, I'm going to go ahead with chemotherapy again, and then hopefully, like before, I'll recover and beat this thing. Again."

The room was silent once again, the news processing for all.

The stillness of the room was interrupted by Molly, who ran into her mother's lap, sobbing. She didn't care if it made her seem more of a child than she already was, but she didn't know what else to do, except maybe find research on lung cancer, but that could wait until later.

Sam watched her mother rock her baby sister back and forth in her lap, gently smoothing her hand through the girl's hair. How had she missed it? She should have realized, although, Alexis hid it pretty well the first time around. Still, if Sam had spent more time with her, she would have noticed her mother's declining health.

Nikolas looked down at his hands, wringing them together. His first instinct was to go over to his aunt and assure her that he would do anything and everything to ensure her getting the best care possible. However, he knew that this would accomplish little. Alexis knew that he was always there for her, no matter what. He needed to do something, though. Maybe the most he could offer would be support to his cousins. He couldn't believe that they were going through this again. It was probably going to be harder this time around because now, Kristina and Molly were old enough to understand what this meant.

Kristina looked at her mother. Surely she had heard something wrong. There was no way that her mother had _cancer_. She didn't even look like she was sick. Of course, she had seemed more tired lately, but Kristina just thought it was the late work nights. But looking at her now, maybe she did look a bit skinnier and a tad paler. What kind of daughter doesn't realize that her own mother is so sick? _The self-absorbed kind._ Kristina had been so consumed with her obsession over Ethan and her whole "woe is me" attitude. Was she really that selfish?

Alexis tried to soothe her baby. Kristina and Sam sat with wet eyes, careful not to let their tears spill. That was kind of what she expected. Her oldest daughters always put on a brave front, but she could tell that they were feeling the same way as Molly. Alexis decided that this was enough news for today. If it ever came up, only then would she tell them the whole truth.


	7. Chapter 7: Girl's Night

Kristina lay in bed, once again letting silent tears hit her pillow,

How could this be happening? It seemed like her family could never go too long without at least one member being on the brink of death; whether it be gun shots or car explosions or abusive boyfriends.

There were so many different things going through her mind. What did all of this mean? What if her mother died? How could she or her sisters move on from that? She had been a really crappy daughter in the past. Now that was all wasted time she may never get back with her mom. Why did this have to happen?

Kristina's thoughts were interrupted by three soft knocks at her door. She wiped her face and walked over to open the door. She paused with her hand on the doorknob, bracing herself in case it was her mother. She took a deep breath and opened the door.

"Hi," came the small voice. Molly stood in front of her sister with her beat up old stuffed bear at her side.

Kristina sighed. "Come on in." She walked back over to her bed and got back in, making room for Molly to lie beside her. Soon they were both letting the tears fall.

Sam sat up in bed next to her mother.

They didn't speak. Sam didn't know what to say without sounding like a broken record. _Everything's going to be okay. You'll beat this. I'll be here for you the whole way._ Sam hated feeling sorry for herself, but this was really crappy. She and her mother had a rocky start, and the last time they went through this they hadn't had much time to get to know each other. But now, they had a relatively great relationship. It was too soon to lose that now.

"I haven't told Sonny yet," Alexis said, breaking the silence. "Or Ric. I guess I should start making arrangements again."

"Arrangements?" Sam whispered, even though she knew very well what arrangement she meant.

"Kristina's an adult and going off to college in the fall. Molly may have to go live with her father, though I really want the three of you to stay together."

"We don't have to figure anything out right now." Sam finally looked at her mother.

Alexis sighed shakily and said honestly, "I don't know what else to do."

She looked at her eldest child and gently wiped away her stray tear. "I love you."

Sam tried unsuccessfully to suppress a sob. "I love you too."

She leaned on her mother's shoulder and let her smooth her hand through her hair, just like she had done to Molly.

Just then the door opened. "Mom?" came a whispered voice.

Neither woman bothered to straighten up for appearance's sake. "Come in, sweetie."

Molly opened the door fully, revealing Kristina behind her. "We just..." the older girl started.

"Yeah, me too," Sam said, motioning with her arms for her sisters to join them. They promptly did so and the four of them sat in silence for a couple of minutes.

"Ahem. As much as I enjoy the fact that all of my daughters are breathing, I'd much rather listen to something a little more...loud. How about a little music? I'm sure I can find a perfect song for this moment."

Alexis patted Molly's arm so she could get from underneath her and reach for the remote to the stereo.

She turned it on and then put the volume on blast so they would get the full effect.

Sam was the first to recognize the song. She started laughing through her tears.

"This is the perfect song?"

Alexis started laughing next. "If you're in the right mood."

"Thank you for the mental image," Kristina chimed in.

"I don't get it," Molly complained while her mother and sister laughed.

"You don't need to," Sam said. "Next song please."

Alexis turned off Marvin Gaye's _Let's Get It On_ and chose the next ramdomly picked song.

By the second chorus of the song, the four of them were laughing and singing along to the song in tragically horrific voices.

_The best part of being a woman is the prerogative to have a little fun and,_

_Oh, oh, oh, totally crazy, forget I'm a lady, men's shirts, short skirts,_

_Oh, oh, oh, really go wild, yeah, doin' it in style,_

_Oh, oh, oh, get in the action, feel the attraction, color my hair, do what I dare,_

_Oh, oh, oh, I wanna be free, yeah, to feel the way I feel,_

_Man! I feel like a woman!_

**_A/N: sorry this one was so short, especially since I haven't updated in a while, but the next one will definately make up for it_**


	8. Chapter 8: Another Clue

_**This chapter isn't as light **_**as**_** the last one, but I needed it to set up the next chapter. Ethan's not in this chapter, but his and Kristina's story is really focused on in the next. Also, thank you to everyone who reads and comments. It really means a lot. ~ Ashley**_

Sam sat in her car, hands on the wheel, face forward.

She was crying. She didn't remember why. She didn't remember leaving the MetroCourt. She didn't remember getting in the car.

She jumped when someone knocked on her window. She looked to see Carly, concern on her face. Sam quickly wiped her face and let her window down. "Yeah?"

"'Yeah'?" that's all you have to say?"

"What?"

"You just stormed out of the MetroCourt in tears. What's wrong? Is it Jason?"

Sam stared at the woman. What was she talking about?

"Sam? Who was on the phone? What happened?"

Sam looked over to the passenger seat and grabbed her phone. She checked her call history, surprised to see the last caller. _Mac?_

Carly was still waiting rather impatiently.

"Just...give me a minute," Sam said, redialing the police commissioner.

She didn't even have a chance to speak before Mac started to talk.

"Are you on your way to the hospital?"

_Did we have a conversation that I missed?_ She decided to play along though.

"Yeah, I'm on my way now. How's...?" She was hoping Mac would quickly fill in the blank without catching on. Luckily he did.

"Your mom's going to be fine." Panic began to rise in her chest, even though he just said that Alexis was fine. "That's all they would tell me but the doctors won't let me see her. Th—wait, here's Robin. I'm gonna see if she can tell me anything. Just hurry."

Sam tossed her phone aside and turned the key already in the ignition.

"Sam!"

"Jason's fine."

She didn't hear Carly if she said anything else. She nearly hit her with the car, but luckily she jumped out of the way quickly enough.

Kristina sat in the car, hands gripping the steering wheel, her head tilted back in an attempt to hold back the tears.

She didn't want to cry in front of Molly, who would be outside soon.

Six days ago, their mother told them that her lung cancer had returned. Just a week ago, everything was normal, even though that normal was pretty miserable. A week ago, Alexis wasn't possibly dying. Well, she was, but in this case, ignorance was bliss. Now all Kristina could do was worry. She worried about her mom mostly. She worried about Molly and Sam. She worried about herself. What was she going to do if she lost her mother?

She needed to talk to someone right now. She had skipped her last therapy session and her sisters didn't need to hear her whining. There was only one person she _wanted_ to talk to, but he wasn't going to let that happen.

Molly tapped on the window of the passenger seat and smiled.

Usually her sister's sunny disposition annoyed her or made her jealous, but now she was grateful for it. She was thankful that Molly was able to smile right now. And it was definitely contagious.

Kristina smiled back at her sister and unlocked the door. Molly got in the car and surprised Kristina with a hug.

"What are you doing here?" she asked excitedly. "Viola usually picks me up."

"I know, but I asked mom if I could do it today."

"Why?" Molly asked as she put on her seatbelt.

Kristina began to drive away from the school.

"Maybe I just wanted to spend some time with my baby sister." She expected Molly to retort that she wasn't a baby, but she remained silent. Kristina glanced at her and saw her staring out the window.

"What's wrong?"

"Mm, nothing. Just thinking."

"About what?"

Molly turned to Kristina, ready to tell her, when Kristina's phone began to ring from her bag at Molly's feet.

"Can you get that for me?"

"You're not supposed to talk on the phone while driving, Krissy."

"I know, just tell me who it is."

Molly read the caller ID and answered the phone with a smile on her face.

"Hey!" Kristina reprimanded.

"It's Sam," Molly mouthed.

Kristina rolled her eyes and focused back on the road while Molly talked to Sam.

"Okay, I'll tell her right now!"

Kristina peeked at Molly, who had an alarmed look on her face.

"What?" she asked, brows furrowing.

Molly put the phone down and took a deep breath.

"What?" Kristina asked, more agitated.

"First of all, Sam said don't freak out and drive carefully."

"Freak out about what?" Kristina said through gritted teeth, already beginning to tense up.

"Mom's okay."

"Molly, what the hell happened?"

"Kristina, you're freaking out!"

Kristina took a deep breath this time. "Sorry," she said, still looking at the road ahead of her. "I didn't mean to yell. Just tell me what happened."

"Mom's been rushed to the emergency room, but Sam said she's alright now. Mac brought her in. Sam wants us to meet her there."

Kristina had stopped breathing and didn't even realize it until her lungs started to burn. She quickly veered left and changed their path to GH.

"Krissy! Sam said to drive _carefully_!"

Jason took his phone out of his pocket and saw Sam's picture.

The meeting with the Five Families had just wrapped up, but he still had Franco business to deal with. He was in his office now, staring at the phone, debating internally whether or not to answer. A big part of him wanted nothing more than to hear her voice right now. But he knew that he needed to handle this present threat before he could relax. The decision was made when the vibrating stopped. Jason sighed. He would make it up to her soon.

His phone buzzed three times, alerting him that he had a voicemail, most likely from Sam. Before he could listen to it, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in."

Spinelli entered the office with his laptop in front of him.

"Do you have anything new for me?" Jason could tell from the young man's expression what the answer was.

"The Jackal regrets to be the bearer of bad news, but unfortunately, try as I may, the Demented One has virtually disappeared from the cyber grid."

"Yeah," Jason mumbled to himself. "Just keep looking. We can't stop until Franco is _dead_."

Spinelli looked at his mentor, seeing the determination in his eyes. He had seen this look many times, and it always meant that Jason would reach his goal, no matter what.

He took a seat opposite Jason's and immediately began typing away.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, with the exception of the clicking sounds of the keyboard. Jason decided to take out his phone again to return Sam's call while he waited. Then a small ping came from Spinelli's laptop.

Spinelli's face was contorted in concentration, giving Jason a slither of hope.

"What is it?"

"Well, it...appears that...yes, one of my associates may have a credible lead on Franco."

"'Associates'?"

Spinelli looked up from his laptop and grinned shyly. "Yes, well when you enter the world private investigating, you develop...associates."

Jason sighed, deciding to get on to the point before Spinelli gave him the whole story on how he came to have "associates."

"Whatever. Just tell me what the lead is."

"Right." He looked back to his computer screen. "It seems that Delusional Artist has left a calling card, right here in New York."

"His booking number again? Why w—"

"No, no. This time he left us something a tad more difficult to decipher."

Spinelli turned his laptop around so Jason could see the image.

"What am I looking at?"

Spinelli enhanced the picture on the screen.

"I can't be absolutely sure of the meaning or if there is, in fact, a meaning at all. It doesn't resemble the artist's previous work. However, there is no mistaking that this...collage is meant for you."

Jason looked at the screen, brows knitted. Franco was on a new level of dementia. This new project of his only further proved that Franco didn't care who knew about him. He had nothing to lose.

The two men studied Franco's newest message. There was an assortment of pictures and poems and lone words put together. Jason was already frustrated. It was always a bit of a strain to try to think like Franco and figure out his clues.

Among the patchwork of photographs of Franco's victims and strange wording, one picture in particular caught Jason's eye. A petite raven-haired woman placed on her side in a chalk outline, with her hair covering most of her face. Directly to the right of the picture in big, bold white letters on a black background was the word "NEXT."

Jason knew that Franco was just playing mind games with him. He knew that he would find his latest work and that he would look at every bit of it, trying to figure out what it meant. He knew that he would spot the picture of the woman resembling his girlfriend. Franco knew that Jason would be further provoked into coming after him.

"Check _every_ security camera in that area," Jason said with new severity voice, "and don't even _think_ about coming back and telling me that Franco disappeared again!"

Jason grabbed his phone and marched out of the office, calling Sam on his way out. He got into his car four rings later and slammed his phone on the steering wheel. He then remembered the voicemail and listened to it.

_Hey, I just wanted to let you know that I'm at the hospital. I'm alright but Alexis...my mom's sick. I know that you probably have a lot of work to take care of, that's probably why you're not answering. Uh, just give me a call when you can. Maybe I'll see you later? I love you._

Jason breathed a sigh of relief. He felt bad that Alexis was sick, but if anything had happened to Sam... Jason started the car and made his way to the hospital.


	9. Chapter 9: I'm Fine, Really

**_by the way, if you noticed, sorry that I changed the title of the last chapter. It was meant to be the title of this one, so I changed it. Confused myself a little there. Anyway, please continue..._**

Sam stood at her mother's side while Molly and Kristina sat at the foot of the bed.

"I'm sorry you all have to be here. Really, I'm fine. You should all go home."

"You know, 'really, I'm fine' should be our new catch phrase," Kristina said.

"Seriously," Molly agreed.

"I know _I_ use it often enough."

"No, Sam, _you_ use it the most," Alexis half-joked. "But really, it's kind of sad that hospitalization runs in the family. I _am_ fine, though. Just a little dehydration. Oh, poor Mac." Alexis put her hand to her cheek. "He must have freaked out when I passed out."

"You know, he's still waiting outside," Molly said with a smirk. "Now that all of the medical stuff is taken care of, I think it's time to talk about something more important."

"Molly!" Kristina scolded. "What could possibly be more important right now? Mom's in a hospital bed."

"Kristina..." Alexis warned, which received a _what?_ look from her middle child.

"Anyway," Molly continued, "I was just saying that it wasn't lost on me that you were with _Mac_."

"Oh, jeez," Alexis groaned. Sam hid a smile behind her hand, and Kristina rolled her eyes but decided to join in on the fun.

"That's right, mom. What were you two doing together?"

Alexis looked to her oldest for a little support.

Sam folded her arms and said, "I'm actually curious about that, too."

"Traitor!"

The foursome started laughing while Molly went on about how it was fate and that Mac was her knight in shining armor. Alexis actually enjoyed her humiliation, thinking that this was how it should be.

_Minus the hospital._

Ethan got off the elevator and walked towards the nurse's station. On his way he noticed Mac Scorpio pacing in the waiting area and then his niece Robin joining him. He continued on his quest to speak to one of the three scariest women he had ever known. One was Kristina, who evoked new and strange feelings within him, who was so bold and loving, but whose heart he just _knew_ he would eventually break. The second was her sister Sam. Aside from her intimidating manner, he _still_ felt that time she kicked his ass all over his father's office. And the third...

"Nurse Johnson!"

The nurse had only heard him say her name but she was already annoyed. "Mr. Lovett," she addressed him.

"Just wondering, do you know where my wife is?"

She looked at him incredulously. "Mr. Lovett, I'm going to let you in on a little secret."

Ethan prepared himself for the diatribe. She always had an attitude like everyone she spoke to had previously done something to offend her.

"I am not your friend. I'm barely your acquaintance. In fact, I don't really like you. I sure as hell am not your wife's keeper or answering service. If you want to know where she is, I suggest you wait until she is _not_ on _my_ time. I know everyone comes in here all willy-nilly like this isn't a professional establishment, which it is. I don't care about your personal business, so please don't let it infringe on _my_ business. Now if you'd like, you may sit in the waiting area and wait all you want. Have a good day Mr. Lovett."

With that, Epiphany continued with her work behind the desk and Ethan slowly walked over to take a seat with a stunned smile. Admittedly, he was a little shocked by Epiphany's assault. More than anything, though, he was just amused.

Just then he saw Jason Morgan descend the elevator and walk directly towards Epiphany. He could already see her ripping Jason a new one for no other reason than invading her personal space. However, this didn't happen.

"Epiphany, have you seen Sam?"

"Yes. She and her sisters are in with their mother. Alexis is going to be fine, but if I were you, I'd let them have some time together. If you'd like, you can go wait for over there." She gestured to the waiting area and went back to work.

Jason looked back and saw Ethan, Mac, and Robin and decided against sitting with them. Instead he walked near the elevators and took out his phone and figured he could still get some work done over the phone while he waited for Sam.

Had Ethan heard right? Kristina was here because something was wrong with her mom? Of course, he would know that if he'd been returning her calls.

"Are you sure she's okay?"

Ethan turned his attention to the commissioner.

"For the hundredth time, Uncle Mac, Alexis is alright. It wasn't nearly as bad as you thought. And in a while, I'm sure you can go see that for yourself."

"Where are we going?"

Molly was practically dragging Kristina out of their mother's room.

"Just to the hospital lounge to let Mac know that he can go in to see Mom now."

"And both of us need to do that? I could have stayed with Mom. Sam's got that important phone call or whatever to deal with, and I don't want to leave her alone."

"Krissy, relax. Mom will only be alone for one minute. Besides, we want to give her a little time to mentally prepare for Mac's visit."

"Fine, but—"

Kristina stopped in her tracks as Ethan rose from his seat. He came. He actually came to be with her when she really needed him. He really did care. She got a bit teary-eyed as he started to slowly make his way to her. She didn't know what to say. She had waited so long for him to show in some way that he loved her the way she loved him. Now it was here, and she didn't have anything to say. She opened her mouth to speak, but someone took her greeting from her lips.

"Hey." Kristina's face immediately fell at the voice. Still, she couldn't stop looking at him.

He noticed her wince when Maya called to him. She must have thought...

Kristina closed her mouth and forced the tears not to fall. Of course he wasn't here for her. How would he even had known about her mother? Grasping for her last bit of dignity, she turned to Maya and gave her a small tight smile.

"Hi."

"Sorry," Maya said, looking between the two. "Am I interrupting something?"

"No. I was just saying goodbye to Ethan. It was good seeing you again." She turned to Ethan with the same plastered smile. "Both of you. Bye."

She then forced her shaky legs to walk over to join her little sister.

"Are you sure?" Mac was asking Molly.

"Of course I'm sure. She said she feels bad for traumatizing you when she passed out. She just wants you to see that she's fine, 'cause she said that you'd probably be worried."

"That's an understatement," Robin muttered.

Mac shot her a look and then turned back to Molly. "Okay. I guess we should get going then."

"Oh, no!" Molly practically yelled. "I mean, no, I can't go see her. It's getting pretty late so Kristina's going to drive us home. So, you'll have to go see her by yourself. If you don't mind, that is."

Mac couldn't even lecture the adorable girl about her obvious attempt to get him Alexis to spend some alone time together. Really, he was relieved.

"That's alright. Well you two get home safely. Robin, I'll see you later."

As he walked away both Molly and Robin saw the smile on his face.

"Well, I have to get back to work, so I'll see around. And good work, Molly."

Molly chuckled to herself as Robin left. Then she noticed Kristina's despondent expression.

"Krissy? What's wrong? Is it because I got Mom and Mac to spend time together? I know you probably think that it's hopeless for me to try because...but I think it'll make her happy, so—"

"No, Molly. I know it's not hopeless. It's not that. I just..."

She couldn't help but look back to Ethan and Maya, who were now at the nurse's station talking.

"I just want to go home with my sister and order a pizza and watch a movie."

"Extra cheesy?"

"The movie or the pizza?"

"Both!"

Kristina put her arm over Molly's shoulder as they walked toward the elevator. "Of course. Anything to take my mind off of today."

"Jason!"

Jason quickly ended his phone call and faced the little brunettes.

"Hey. How's Alexis?"

"She's alright," Kristina answered. "If you're looking for Sam, she should be on her way out soon. She had some business call to take care of."

"Thanks, I'll find her. Do you need a ride home?"

Molly sighed and Jason could see that faraway dreamy look that she always got when she talked about her fairytale love stories.

"You know Jason, no one could tell just by looking at you, but you are by far one of the most chivalrous men I have ever met in person. Not only do you take care of the woman you're madly in love with, but you go out of your way to make sure her family's taken care of, too."

Jason stared at her for a moment. She could really make anything about romance. "It's not that big of a deal."

Kristina rolled her eyes. "What she means is no, thank you. I drove and we're on our way home now. But when you find Sam, can you ask her to call us later?"

"Yeah, I'll tell her."

"Thanks. Bye."

Jason nodded to them as they got on the elevator.

He knew that Sam probably needed time to handle whatever business she had on her own, but he didn't feel right knowing that she was alone right now. He was anxious to get to Sam so they could go home and just finally be together again. Once again, he made his way over to Epiphany, bypassing his cousin and her husband, who seemed to be huddled in an intense conversation.

"Epiphany, have you—"

"Last I saw, your girlfriend was around the corner in the hall with Dr. Drake," the nurse said, never looking up from the file she was handling.

"Thanks."

Jason made his way to the direction Nurse Johnson pointed him to. As he rounded the corner, he saw Sam follow Patrick into one of the rooms. He went after them and stopped when he came to the closed door. He wasn't sure if he should interrupt if they were talking about her mother. Instead, he stood outside the door and waited for her. He took out his phone again to see, if by any chance, he'd missed an update from Spinelli, which wasn't likely because he had been checking every two minutes. Then he heard a familiar noise come from the room. He stepped closer as he heard Patrick's voice rise.

"Look Sam, I know this is not what you want to hear right now. I mean, it's understandable with everything that's going on. But you need to tell someone, and we need to get you help as soon as possible."

Sam let out another sob.

"I know, I know. And I will get the surgery as soon as possible, when I have the time. But who am I going to tell? My mom, who's dying! My sisters? As far as I'm concerned, you and Nikolas are the only ones who have to know."

Jason could hear the tears in her voice.

"What about Jason?"

"I...I can't tell him. Not now. There's so much going on with him. I mean this whole Franco thing's still unresolved and that's on _top_ of his work."

"Yeah, if that's what you want to call it. Really though, don't you think he would be more concerned about your health than whatever war he's in with the latest threat? I'm sorry. I know it's harsh, but if you don't unload this on someone—not your doctor—the stress is going to kill you if your condition doesn't first."

Jason had heard enough. He opened the door and, completely ignoring the doctor, went over to Sam.

"Jason!"

She felt like she'd had the wind knocked out of her. She didn't want him to know. At least, not like this. She wanted to be able to handle it and have answers before anyone started asking questions.

"You should have told me," was all he said.

Patrick silently excused himself to give them the chance to talk.

Sam didn't know what to say. "Jason..."

He took her in his arms like she might leave earth in that moment.

Suddenly, she felt the pent-up emotions coursing through her release as she allowed herself to really cry about everything.

His own eyes stung as the severity of what he'd just learned sunk in.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Jason slightly pulled away from her so he could take her face in his hands. He looked into her eyes and wiped a tear away from her cheek with his thumb.

"Don't be sorry. Don't ever apologize for..."

For being sick? Why was she apologizing right now?

"I'm sorry, Sam."

She looked in his eyes, confused. "For what? I should have told you."

"Yeah, you should have been able to tell me. I know I haven't...I haven't been here for you lately. No matter what is going on with anything else, I should have been here. I made you feel like you couldn't come to me with anything."

"No, Jason. I know I can tell you anything. This was just me being scared. I didn't want to face this. I didn't want to...deal with it. I still don't."

Jason realized that he didn't even know exactly what was wrong with her. But Patrick said that she could die.

"Sam?"

"We have a lot to talk about."

**_I hope you enjoyed the update! Remember, comments are always welcomed_**


	10. Chapter 10: Part Two

**_umm, this came out of nowhere and it's a little different, but..._**

_No matter how many times he said it, she couldn't believe it._

_He cared for her, as a friend. He was too old, too experienced. They could never be together._

_But tonight, Kristina got the message loud and clear. She realized that she didn't matter to him, at least, not the way she wanted. She had deluded herself into thinking that she meant something to him. It was all in her head. And she needed to let him go._

_Ethan sat at the bar with an untouched drink in front of him. He didn't know what else to do. He could see it on her face, like she was shattered inside. He broke her heart tonight. And she broke his. She said goodbye to him. It wasn't the "bye, I'll see you later" farewell between friends. It felt more permanent. He she have stopped her from leaving. But he had to take care of something first and she needed to be with her family. If only he'd been able to explain. He didn't think she'd want to hear him out now._

_He was too late._

_How could she let herself get like this? She always went after the wrong things. Popularity. Money. Kiefer. Ethan. Everything always backfired. She should have known better than to go after Ethan the way she did. She tried to change herself for him. Sam had warned her about this a long time ago. How putting aside everything for a guy made you lose yourself. How the only way to truly be happy with anyone else was to know and be happy with yourself first. Who was she? She had to find out before she let this—_him_ consume her any more than she had already let it._

_No matter how many times he said it, she couldn't believe it._

_He loved her, more than anything. He would always be there for her. They could get through anything together. _

_Sam was the luckiest woman in the world to have him. She had just finished telling Jason about her diagnosis. She waited until they got back to the Penthouse, using the silent car ride home to figure out what she was going to say. When they finally sat facing each other on the couch, she told him everything. How she'd hidden her symptoms from him. How she was in denial until Nikolas caught her in the middle of one of her stomach-turning headaches and insisted she go to the hospital. She told him how the doctors didn't know how they had missed it before. How there was a possibility that it may be related to her injuries from the car bomb. She told him not to worry, it was benign. _

_He knew he still had to worry. He knew that a benign brain tumor was still dangerous. She said the tumor was growing slowly. She had to have surgery. There was always a risk with surgery. At least she most likely wouldn't need radiotherapy or anything like that. He would stand by her even if she did. _

_She was worried about her mother and sisters and Jason. She didn't want to put them through anything else right now. It wasn't fair to them. Hell, it wasn't fair to her. She was never one to feel sorry for herself, but how much could she and her family take? _

_He held her in his arms. She wanted to cry. But she was tired of crying and being sad. She moved away from him and said she needed to call her sisters. To make sure they were okay._

_He still saw the tears in her eyes as she got up and made her way up the stairs. There was nothing he could do._

_She thought about being with her family earlier. They _did_ always survive the worst life had ever thrown at them. She could handle this. She would be fine._


	11. Chapter 11: Sorry

_**thank you to everyone who reads and reviews, i really appreciate it...ENJOY!**_

Dinner was quiet tonight.

The usual banter and bickering was replaced with the occasional ruffling of paper bags and the ticking of the wall clock. Instead of at the dining room table, they halfheartedly ate in oversized chairs. The warm, comfortable atmosphere of home was substituted with the impersonal neutral colors of the hospital waiting area. Even the company was a little different. An extra guest and a sister short.

They all felt that it was wrong not to be at the hospital, waiting to hear about Sam. So even though she had demanded that they all go home and try to relax, insisting that she would be alright and see them when she woke from the surgery, they wouldn't hear of it. Nikolas offered to join them, if not for his connections at the hospital, then just to support his family. No one knew where Jason had run off to, just that he had taken a call about an hour earlier and disappeared.

After a couple of hours of waiting, Kristina noticed her little sister was tense, so she decided to take her for a short walk around the hospital.

Nikolas attempted to keep his aunt's attention off of Sam by mentioning Spencer and the business and his newfound relationship with Brook Lynn. No matter what he said, though, he knew that he couldn't stop her from worrying. Eventually the one-sided conversation died into silence. Nikolas could hear that damn clock, mocking them. They already knew that it was taking forever to hear any updates on Sam, but they really didn't need the reminder.

Then, out of nowhere, Alexis let out a sort of snort-laugh. Nikolas looked at her, perplexed. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, nothing." She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. When she opened her eyes again, they were brimmed with tears. "This isn't fair. Is it just me, or does this stuff always seems to happen to _my_ girls? I mean, is it so much to ask for them to just be happy, healthy, and safe?"

"Well, I supposed it's just the luck of the Cassadines."

"Yeah."

They drifted into silence. Then Nikolas heard his aunt begin to cry.

"It's just not fair! I mean, I know she's going to get through this, she has to. I have to believe that, because if she doesn't..."

Nikolas walked over to sit beside her, embracing her immediately.

"You're right," he said. "It isn't fair. But she is going to survive this, just like she has survived everything else."

"Molly, do you want to talk?"

Molly looked annoyed as she walked beside her sister.

"No offence, Kristina, but I already have a therapist."

Kristina was caught off guard by her sister's sudden attitude. "I'm just trying to help. We're all having a hard time right now."

Molly stopped in her tracks and turned to face Kristina.

"No, _we're_ not. Sam's the one having surgery. You know, you have this amazing ability to turn everything around so it affects you!"

"Molly, that's not wha—!"

"I'm surprised you even took the time to acknowledge me, seeing as how everything's about you and your drama twenty-four/seven."

"Molly, please don't do this now. I know you're right. I know I have been the worst sister ever and you deserve so much better. I know I'm selfish and I'm a bitch! I hate it and I hate myself for being this way. I'm sorry! But I can't change anything right now. I can't make Sam better, or Mom. I'm sorry."

By now Kristina was in tears and it was Molly's turn to be shocked. Before she could even try to take back what she said, Sonny was by Kristina's side.

"Hey, hey..." He took her into his arms. He looked at Molly questioningly.

"I'm s-sorry," she whispered as she backed away. Kristina broke away from her father's hold and tried to stop Molly from going any further, but the younger girl turned and ran away. Kristina didn't even have the energy to chase after her.

She looked back at Sonny, who looked very confused at his niece's actions. He wondered if something went wrong with Sam's surgery since both of her sisters seemed a wreck. "Dad, can you please go after her? I just can't..."

"Are you okay? Is it Sam?"

Kristina sighed. "It's everything. Sam's still in surgery. But can you please go find Molly? She shouldn't be alone right now."

"Alright, I will. Don't worry. Why don't you go sit down and rest for a few minutes, huh?"

Kristina nodded. Sonny gave a nod and smiled in response before following in Molly's direction.

Kristina felt worn out both mentally and physically. She found herself just wandering through the unusually quiet corridors of the hospital. With her last turn into a darkened room, she stumbled upon the missing Jason.

She saw that he was sitting in the dim room in a chair facing a window. He looked toward the door when he heard Kristina's footsteps.

"Sorry," she mumbled as she began to walk away.

"No," he stopped her. "It's fine." He stood and walked over to and flipped the light switch.

He motioned to the couch, to which Kristina nodded slightly and entered the room.

"So," she started awkwardly, "why are you sitting here in the dark?"

She saw a very small hint of a smile on Jason's face and she figured he was probably thinking about Sam; she was pretty much the only thing she'd ever seen him smile about.

"I just thought I would leave you all alone. It seemed like something that should have been shared by family."

"But you are family."

Kristina had no idea how the simple, matter-of-fact statement effected Jason. But that had pretty much always been true for her; Jason was Sam's family, and hers.

"Thanks," he said. "But, uh, I think I needed some time alone, too."

Kristina immediately stood up. "Sorry. I can go if you want."

"Kristina."

She could have slapped herself for being so silly and childish. Of course Jason wouldn't just tell her to leave. Not everyone wanted to distance themselves from her. She was a little surprised, though, that Jason didn't. She sat back down and took a deep breath. "Sorry."

Jason slowly made his way over to his chair. "You don't need to do that all the time."

Kristina looked up at him. "Do what?"

"Apologize. You don't have anything to be sorry for."

Kristina looked back down and remembered her confrontation with Molly. "Yeah, I do."

Jason didn't argue with her; he didn't respond at all. If she wanted to talk about it, she would.

"Are you worried about Sam?" Kristina asked.

"Always," he said instantly, not meaning to be so honest about his feelings.

"Sam's lucky."

Jason looked at her skeptically.

"Really. It must be nice to have someone who loves you enough to even bother to care or worry."

Jason sighed deeply. "You'll have that. You already do. You know, no matter what happens Kristina, your family will always care about you and look out for you."

"Even when I screw everything up?"  
"Even then. Right now, it sounds like you're the one who doesn't care enough."

Kristina was surprised at how profound Jason really was. Who needed a therapist when you had a sensitive mobster on hand?

"I think you're right."

"Molly?"

Sonny finally found Molly in the hospital chapel. She was sitting in one of the back pews, facing the altar.

"Hey, kiddo. Saying a prayer for your sister?"

Molly let out a shaky breath. "No."

When she didn't say any more, he walked over and sat beside her. "Want to tell me what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Well, Kristina sent me after you, so I'm guessing she had a good reason. What happened?"

"Is she mad?"

"Who, Kristina? No she's not mad. Last I talked to her she was just worried about you."

"She was?"

Molly looked at him with tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Sonny," she cried as she threw herself to his side. He gently put his arm around her shoulder. "What are you so sorry for?"

"I said terrible things to Kristina. I didn't any of it. Well, I didn't mean most of it. It's just that with Mom being sick and now Sam's having brain surgery...I just feel like it's all too much."

"Well if anyone knows about feeling overwhelmed, it's me. But you gotta give yourself a little credit, Molly. What you've been going through is a lot for any one person. I know if it was me, I'da gone crazy by now. But you've been brave through everything. But you're lucky to have so many people who care about you around."

"I know, but I feel like I'm losing them all."

Sonny sat Molly up and looked her directly in the eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Well, Sam, Kristina and I don't have daddy issues for no reason. No offense, Uncle Sonny. I mean, I only see my dad on school breaks and vacations. Sometimes it feels like he just left and forgot all about me. And Mom is sick again."

"She's going to get better."

"I'm not a stupid kid, Uncle Sonny! I've done my research and I know that the odds of her surviving are very slim."  
"Molly, why do you do this to yourself? I tell you what, those numbers? They got nothing on your mom. She beat 'em once, she'll do it again."

"Thanks. I know you're just saying that, but—"

"But nothing. She's going to be alright. And about that stuff with Ric?"

"That's okay. I know you and my dad don't really get along."

"No we, uh, we're not exactly on speaking terms. But I will say this for a fact: your father loves you. We may not agree on each other's parenting techniques, but I know he'd do anything for you."

"Then why isn't he here?"

Sonny looked helplessly at his niece and sighed. "I don't know," he said honestly.

**_okay, so I think I want to add a little more Molly to the story, that way it's more about all of the Davis girls...on another note, i just started college so i don't really know how often i'll be able to update. i hope it's not too bad, though._**


	12. Chapter 12: Three Weeks Later

_**okay, so I'm putting up two chapters today, and...they suck. it's not a really terrible read, but i was having a little trouble getting to where i wanted to be, so these two chapters are just to fill some empty space. and in my defense, the first was written as i drifted off to sleep and the second was kinda done in a rush. but i was just really anxious to finally get something up, so here you go. hope you all still want to read it after ^^^**_

_**Three Weeks Later...**_

"Sam, what are you doing?"

Sam froze mid-step on her way to the door. Jason looked at her disapprovingly from the stairs.

"What?" she said. "Someone's at the door."

Jason sighed and walked over to her. "I know, but you're not supposed to be up. We made a deal about leaving the hospital so soon. It's bad enough that you're not staying in bed, but you promised to take it easy if you came downstairs."

"Babe, I'm ten feet from the door. I was only going to be off of the couch for a few seconds. But now, thanks to you, I'm up longer than I need to be."

"Sam, please..."

"Fine," she conceded, throwing her arms in the air and walking back over to the couch.

Jason waited until she was seated before he went to answer the door. He was surprised to see who was on the other side.

"Yeah?"

"Good to see you too," Dante said. "Can I come in?"

"What do you want?"

"I need to talk to you about a police matter," he said glancing at Sam and back to Jason.

Jason turned to look at Sam and sighed. "Is it about Franco?" he asked Dante, who simply nodded in return.

The mobster huffed and ran his hand over his face. "Can this wait? Now's not really the best time..."

Sam rolled her eyes, knowing that he was referring to her. "It's fine," she said.

She stood up held up her hands when she saw Jason was about to protest.

"I'll go upstairs. You two talk."

"Sam, you don't—"

"Jason, _you_ don't need to worry so much. I'm not taking a lap around the block or anything, just up the stairs. Okay?"

"Fine. Let's go."

Sam stopped walking to the staircase. "'Let's'? As in, the both of us? You know, you're really being ridiculous about this."

Sam tried to give him a teasing smile, but she could tell from the intense look in his eyes that he wasn't having it.

"Okay, okay," she said.

Jason turned to Dante. "Give me a minute." Dante nodded again.

Jason put one arm behind Sam's back as he walked with her up the very short set of stairs, as if he was afraid she might fall.

"How are you feeling?" Jason asked as he continued to walk Sam over to their bed. "Any headaches."

"Yeah. Not too bad, though. But I guess that's to be expected. Brain surgery and all... How are you?"

"Me?"

"Yes, you, the man I love." She smiled and faced him, wrapping her arms around Jason's waist. "How are you with...everything?"

"I'm not the one who's recovering from major surgery."

"Well, not this time."

"Sam, I'm serious. Don't worry about me. Just focus on you and getting better."

Sam sighed. Really, she shouldn't have expected any other answer from him. She pulled away from him and sat on the bed. She reached for his hand and he joined her.

"I'm serious, too. This time it's not you who had surgery, but I remember how it feels to be on the other side. First there's the shock and fear when you first get the news. Then after, you're always worried and wondering if it's over or if there's going to be another setback. And you have to wait for test results and you're thinking about the worst-case scenario and what you would do without the love of your life. At least, I know that's how I'm usually feeling. Maybe it's not the same for you. I just know that it's not fun. It really takes its toll on you. And on top of everything else that you have to deal with, you must be feeling, I don't know...something."

Jason's hand automatically went to her forehead to move her ever-straying hair out of her eyes in a gesture of comfort. His hand then moved gently down the side of her face before taking hers.

"I feel grateful everyday I'm lucky enough to have you in my life."

Sam smiled. "I keep telling you, Jason. I'm the lucky one."

"Well...And about that other stuff?"

"Franco and Sonny and Brenda and Carly... Oh, and now Dante. Speaking of which, you probably shouldn't keep him waiting too much longer."

"Forget about them. _All_ of them. I'll take care of everything, I promise."

"I know you will. You always do, and that's part of the problem."

"What do you mean?"

"Sometimes you just have to take a break. I'm scared you're going to stretch yourself too far trying to take care of everybody."

"Well how about this?" Jason expertly lifted Sam onto his lap. "As soon as Franco's out of the picture and the doctors say it's okay, we go on a very long, much-needed vacation. Anywhere you want."

"Alaska," Sam said off the top of her head.

"Alaska? Okay. That's...different."

"You'd take me to Alaska? You hate the cold."

"If that's where you want to go."

Sam pretended to think it over for a minute.

"No, I don't think I want to go to Alaska."

"Good," Jason said with a chuckle. "Why don't you think about it? I mean really think about it, down to the last detail. I want it to be perfect for you."

"The only thing I need for it to be perfect is you. Now go downstairs and handle whatever business you have with Dante. Oh, that sounds weird out loud."

"Yeah. Try to get some rest, alright?"

"I'll try, but no promises," Sam said, knowing full well that she'd probably be out like a light not long after she hit the pillow. This medication she had taken earlier that day was beginning to take effect, no matter how hard she tried to fight it. She stood so Jason could leave.

"I won't be long," he assured her.

"Take your time. I know you and Dante rarely get to see each other, so..."

"You're not funny."

"I'm hilarious. I love you."

Jason smiled back at her as he stood in the doorway. "I love you too."

Once he was gone, Sam sighed and walked over to the stand beside the bed and picked up her phone before lying down on the bed, not knowing what else to do. She was tired of being on bed rest. Jason had confiscated her laptop so she wouldn't be able to do any P.I. work from home, and she had been unable to persuade Spinelli to sneak it back to her.

She decided to think about this newly promised vacation. She couldn't wait to get away with Jason, away from hospitals and crazy families and exes that never went away. No crisis to deal with, and no psychopath breathing down there neck. _Yeah, right_, Sam thought wryly. For her and Jason, if it wasn't a serious illness it was somebody trying to kill one of them. Or Carly, Sonny, Michael, Kristina. She knew that Jason wanted to go away, just the two of them, but he had been saying that practically since they got back together! There was just always something in the way. And she didn't want to get her hopes up by planning some spectacular adventure they would never take.

Not as cheered up about vacation plans as she thought she would be, Sam looked through her phone. She wasn't surprised to see so many missed calls. She'd better call her mom back soon, though, unless she wanted her barging into her room anytime soon.

Kristina called a couple of times, too. She'd been really attentive to Sam ever since she was out of surgery, much to Sam's surprise. Not that she thought the worst of her little sister. It was just that Kristina hadn't been very compassionate towards a lot of people over the past few years, focusing mainly on trivial things and how they affected her. Even Alexis commented on how much Kristina seemed to have matured in just a few months. But Sam knew firsthand how much a person could change once reality slapped them in the face a few of times. Maybe everything that had happened to Kristina—between not growing up with her father, being in an abusive relationship, and her family's medical issues—had given Kristina some clarity on the priorities in her life, instead of causing her to self-destruct as Sam had feared. But now, she just felt like her sister would be okay, that she could handle just about anything. She just hoped that she wouldn't have to. At least for a while.


	13. Chapter 13: Better

_**Two-fer! well as i said in the previous chapter, this was done kind of rushed, but i do hope you enjoy it a little..**_

"No, I just wanted to see how you were doing," Kristina said honestly. She could still hear a hint of skepticism in Sam's voice. It was understandable, though. She wasn't the best sister—or person.

_No, no_. She tried to shake the thought away. She had to stop thinking the worst of herself or everyone else would too. At least, that's what she thought her therapist was trying to say.

"It's okay, Sam. I'll tell Mom you called so she won't freak out. You just get some rest. I love you."

"_I love you, too Krissy_."

Kristina hung up the phone and pulled out a notebook from her desk drawer. She turned the pages until she was at her list. She had most of them checked off, and she was happy about it. But it was the last couple of things on the list that were turning her stomach in knots.

She began making the list the night of Sam's surgery. She had this realization about what things in her life were important. But there were just so many things she had messed up in the past that she had to map it all out to keep them straight. That's when she decided to make her list. The first category was "Apologies." She had quite a few of those to make.

She started with Molly. She felt like she failed her little sister with her actions. If anything, she was an example of everything for Molly _not_ to do. She didn't want her to grow up and be insecure and selfish. She apologized for not being a better example and for not paying enough attention to her. Molly was the one practically in tears, saying sorry over and over again for what she said at the hospital. Molly was possibly the easiest person to ask forgiveness from. Maybe it was because they were so close and had to apologize to each other for something frequently. This time was different, though. She didn't think it was possible, but she felt even closer to Molly after their talk. She even let Molly stay in her room that night, and they talked about how lucky they were to have each other and Sam and their mother. It was very healing, for both of them.

The next day, she invited Michael to have lunch with her at Kelly's. He asked about Sam and Molly and school. Kristina was unexpectedly nervous talking to Michael, which was weird because he was usually her confidante. They could talk about anything.

"_So how's Abby?" Kristina asked awkwardly._

_Michael sighed, not prepared for another fight about his girlfriend. "Look Kristina, I think we've already established that you don't like Abby, so let's just not—"_

"_No! I was just asking she was. How...you were. I really want to know."_

_Michael eyed her suspiciously. "Why?"_

_Kristina looked down at her coffee. This was harder than she thought. "You really like her, Michael?"_

"_I love her," he immediately said defensively._

_That took Kristina off guard a little. She knew they were really into each other but, love? It almost made her want to back out of this._

"_Wow. I'm happy for you, really."_

"_Really? 'Cause you don't sound like it."_

"_Sorry. I'm trying."_

"_But why? You don't have to like her or anything. I mean, it would make my life a lot easier, but I don't expect you to do that."_

_Kristina was a bit stung by her brother's words, though he didn't seem to have said it to be mean._

"_Michael, I'm sorry I've been so opposed to you and Abby. It was just me being mean and hypocritical, when you think about how much I tried to pursue Ethan."_

_Kristina could barely get his name out. She couldn't think about him, though. Not yet. She closed her eyes and inhaled, determined to get this all out in one breath._

"_I guess I just felt like I was losing my best friend, because that's what you are to me, Michael. I really think I would go crazy without you sometimes. But when Abby came along I felt you didn't have time for me anymore. And I know how selfish that it, which is why I'm sorry. You didn't deserve that, and Abby especially didn't deserve my cruelty. I'm just..." Kristina had to take another breath. "Sorry."_

_Michael looked at his sister in wonderment. "I can't believe you just said that."_

"_You can't believe it, like you're surprised, or like you just don't believe it?"_

_Michael smiled and stood, walking around the table to give Kristina a hug. _

"_Thank you."_

That was two apologies down. After a little while, Dante had run into them on the way to get something to eat and decided to join them. They had a great time, which led Kristina to suggest that they do it again soon, next time with Molly and Morgan, and maybe even Sam when she was feeling up to it.

Making family number one was also on her list. She felt like she didn't see Dante or Morgan enough and they were all family, so that had to change. She was also kinder to her mother and tried to be available for Sam whenever she could.

The next thing Kristina had to do was have a real talk with her dad. She pushed that one off for a few days. They were doing better than they had been this time last year, but their relationship was still a little strained. It was just hard for Kristina to fully open herself up to Sonny. She'd been disappointed by him in the past, and she wasn't sure if she was ready to face another potential heartbreak so soon.

_When she showed up unexpectedly at her father's house, she didn't know how he would react. As soon as she got there she thought she should have called first; she never knew what kind of mood he would be in._

_Milo went in first and told Sonny she was there. She expected to have to wait, but instead, he came out to greet her. Kristina smiled when she took in his appearance; his charming dimpled smile lit up his face, while his black suit was oddly covered by a 'Kiss the Chef' apron._

"_Perfect timing!" he told her._

"_What's up?" she asked._

"_Just doing a little cooking, and I was just thinking that I could use a little help."_

"_Since when do you need help in the kitchen?"_

"_Ah, must be my age is finally catchin' up on me."_

_Kristina laughed and followed her father into the kitchen. It was very easy being with him, without all the drama between them. And it wasn't just that Kristina had dialed back on the dramatics, but Sonny was also genuinely trying to be more involved with and understanding of his daughter. And Kristina was slowly able to let him be there for her._

_She had gone over there with the intention of explaining to him why she acted the way she had in the past. But as she spent the day with him just goofing around in the kitchen, she realized that it wouldn't matter. Not to Sonny, anyway. He wouldn't change, and she didn't need him to. She knew that no matter what, he would always love her, even if his actions didn't always show it._

_As they made each other's favorite dishes and desserts, their inner children came out. It wasn't the first time, but it wasn't the same back and forth bickering as before. They were just able to enjoy each other's company._

Kristina was getting more anxious by the minute as she contemplated the next item on her list, in big bold letters: **ETHAN**.

At first she thought it was best to just leave things as they were between them: unresolved. But she knew that was just the fear talking. She was afraid that if she saw him again, all of those feelings that made her go crazy would come back, and she wasn't sure she could afford that now with all of the progress she'd been making.

"Knock, knock."

Kristina turned to see her mother already halfway in her room. "Hey."

"Hi, sweetie. I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to be leaving out in a few minutes."

"Where are you going? You shouldn't drive too far. You should probably just stay here. Is it something that I can do for you?"

Alexis smiled and walked over to her daughter, resting her hands on her shoulders. "Don't worry so much. I'm just going to go see your sister. She hasn't been returning any of my calls, so I just want to go check on her."

"No!"

Alexis was a bit taken aback. "What do you mean, 'no'?"

"It's just that I already talked to Sam. She said that she was fine. She took her medication and she's already going to bed. It won't do either of you any good if you go over there now."

Alexis sighed. Was it asking too much to have her oldest child call every once in a while just to let her know she was still breathing? Excuse her for trying to be a mother.

"I really needed to speak to her..."

"What about?" Kristina braced herself. She could see her mother debating whether or not to tell her. What if it was about the cancer?

"Are you okay?" she asked, immediately realizing what a stupid question that was to ask someone who was possibly dying.

"Actually, I'm a little better than okay," Alexis said with a smile, walking over to take a seat on Kristina's bed.

"What happened?"

"I wanted to wait until after I talked to your sister. I figured she could use one less thing to worry about." She saw the anticipation on Kristina's face and couldn't stand it any longer.

"Okay," she said. "There are no guarantees, but I have been looking into an experimental treatment for some time now, and after a _lot_ of research and very careful consideration, I've decided to take part in it!"

She'd barely gotten out the end of her sentence before Kristina leapt from her seat and into her mother's arms.

"Oh my—I can't believe it!" Kristina exclaimed through her tears. "Why didn't you tell us sooner?"

She pulled herself away from her mother took look in her eyes, now threatening to spill over with tears.

"I just wanted to be absolutely sure before I said anything. I didn't want to disappoint any of you. You know you girls mean the world to me."

"Mom, you couldn't disappoint us, even if you decided not to do it. I'm just so happy for you. I know you said no guarantees, but it's amazing to just have something to hold onto. I didn't even want to think about what would happen it you—sorry."

"No, don't apologize. I'm sure we were all thinking it. I can't promise you anything except that I will fight with everything I have to be here for you and your sisters."

Kristina listened to her mother in genuine admiration. Aside from maybe Sam, she had never known any other woman who was as strong and brave as her mother.

"I love you, Mom."

That was a little startling for Alexis, to get an unsolicited 'I love you' from Kristina.

"I love you, too." She wrapped her arms around her again.

"If I'm ever half the woman you are some day, I'll be lucky."

"Hey. Now you might find this a little surprising, but I don't want you to be me. I only want what's best for _you_ and what makes you happy. You can't go around trying to be anyone but _you_. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that, my beautiful, intelligent child."

Kristina looked back up at her mother, frowning now.

"What?" her mother asked.

"Nothing, just...thank you."


	14. Chapter 14: One

_One... _

Molly walked into the living room, but stopped when she saw her mother. "Hi."

Alexis looked up from the newspaper she was reading and turned to see her daughter. "Hi, sweetie," she answered from her seat on the couch. "What's up?"

"Nothing. What are you doing?"

"Oh, nothing, just reading the paper." Alexis eyes her youngest child, who stood unusually distanced from her, arms crossed in front of her. She looked like she wanted to say something.

"Is everything okay?" Alexis asked.

"Yeah. Kristina and I were talking earlier..."

She waited for Molly to finish, but she didn't. "What were you talking about?"

"I don't know. Nothing, really. School, stuff."

"Well that's nice." Molly nodded and looked around the room at everything except Alexis.

Alexis sat the newspaper on the coffee table. "Is there something else, Molly? You know you can talk to me about anything."

"I know, but I don't want to make you sad." She was still avoiding her mother's face.

"And how would you do that? Here, come sit with me."

After a moment of hesitation, Molly did as she was told. She started to relax once she felt her mother's arms embrace her.

"Do you want to tell me about it?"

"I want to."

There was still uncertainty in her voice.

"Okay...why don't you just take a deep breath and blurt it out?"

Molly finally looked into her mother's eyes. It was almost too much to handle though, so she shut her own eyes and inhaled deeply.

"I don't want you to die!"

Alexis literally jumped at the sheer loudness of the admission. However, she wasn't completely surprised. She noticed that Molly had been a little distant ever since she told her about the clinical trial. She had been waiting for her little girl to finally say what she was feeling.

Molly opened her eyes, releasing the tears. "I know it sounds selfish, but I just don't think I could handle it if you did. It _is_ selfish, to try to convince you to live for me—for us—but I really need that!" She buried her face in her hands.

Alexis sighed as she watched her daughter's inner turmoil play out. She took her chin in her right hand.

"Molly, look at me. I know that you aren't a selfish person. You never have been. You're just worried, and that's okay. I'm worried too."

"You are? But you always seem so calm and confident about everything."

Alexis chuckled and embraced her little girl. "I'm your mother. That's my job."

"I really am sorry, though. I don't want you to worry about me. You should be focusing on yourself now."

"I will always worry about my girls."

They sat holding each other for a few minutes. Then Molly let out a small sigh.

"You're the smartest, kindest, wisest person I know. You're going to be a good grandmother."

"What?" Alexis exclaimed. "Is there something you want to tell me about one of your sisters?"

Molly giggled. "No, not yet. But Kristina and I were talking—"

"Kristina? Oh, Lord," she mumbled into her hands.

"Mom, stop freaking out! We were just talking about what it would be like to have kids—in the very, _very_ distant future—and we talked about what a great mother you are and how any child would be lucky to have you in their lives."

"Well what brought on that conversation?"

"We were thinking of names for Sam and Jason's future child."

"Oh, sweetie. You know that Sam most likely will never have children."

"Sure, mom," Molly said sarcastically. "It's not like the Davis women haven't beaten the odds before. Besides, Sam deserves it."

Alexis sighed. There was really no stopping any of her daughters once they had their minds set on something.

"You're right. I suppose there is always a _chance_."

"Yeah. Miracles happen every day. I just hope we can _all_ be here when that day happens."

Alexis immediately figured that by "all" she meant her. She stroked her baby's hair. "I wouldn't miss it for the world. I promise."


	15. Chapter 15: Two

_Two..._

Kristina walked into the living room slowly, trying to gauge her mother's mood. Alexis looked relaxed sprawled across the sofa, glasses at the tip of her nose and book in hand. Kristina could tell she was reading leisurely instead of just working as she usually did. Kristina sighed, preparing herself for a battle. _Hoping_ for one.

"Hey," she said, approaching her mom.

Alexis smiled in response, "Hi, sweetheart." Her smile altered a bit though when she noticed that Kristina was dressed and had her keys out.

Alexis sat up fully. "And where are you going?"

"I was just hoping that I could take a little drive and go visit a friend's house?"

"How far of a drive?"

"Uh..." Kristina wasn't expecting that question. "Not too far. Fifteen-, twenty-minute drive tops."

"Which friend?" _There it was_.

"Um, Ethan?"

Alexis cocked her head and pursed her lips as if she was considering if she had ever heard of such person. "Don't stay out too late." She turned her attention back to her book.

_What?_

"What? Did you hear me? I'm going _out_ to go see _Ethan_ at the _bar_ where he lives, _alone_."

"I'm well aware of what you said. I expect you back at a decent hour."

Kristina looked incredulously at her mother. She looked perfectly normal. "Not only are you not stopping me but you're _encouraging_ me? What's wrong with you?"

Alexis sighed and took off her glasses. "If I tell you something, you cannot get upset because I'm your mother and I only want what's best for you."

Kristina walked over and took a seat next to her. "What is it? The clinical trial? You didn't lie about that to try to make me feel better, did you?"

"No! No, of course not. But I may have accidentally seen a certain notebook that may or may not have been opened to a certain page that might have given me some insight into your new behavior."

"Oh," was all Kristina said. She wasn't mad. Actually, she didn't care. She knew how lucky she was to have her mother still, no matter how nosey she was, so she couldn't be upset that she was prying into her life like always.

"'Oh'? You're not mad?"

"No."

"Oh. Okay well, I just wanted to let you know, and I understand completely. And I am very proud of you. I also saw that Ethan was still on your list. I have to admit, I was a little curious about why and when you were going to go see him. Facing your demons isn't easy, trust me. But I know that you need to do it in your own time."

Kristina chuckled. "I can't believe this."

"What's that?"

"Maybe if I would have just come to you, I could have learned all of this earlier."

"Or maybe you needed to come to the conclusion on your own. Just because someone gives you good advice doesn't mean you always take it when you should."

"Well now I know for next time."

Alexis put her hand on the side of her middle child's face. "You are already so much wiser from your experiences. I'm so proud of you for turning your life around and getting ready to go off to Yale. And you're so beautiful and smart on top of everything. All of my girls are. How'd I get so lucky to have the most amazing young women as my daughters?"

Kristina couldn't believe she was on the brink of tears again.

"Mom, no matter what happens, no matter what _happened_, please know that Sam, Molly, and I love you, always. Without you, we would be complete messes. That's not a guilt trip or anything to—I don't know—inspire you. It's just the truth."

Now Alexis's eyes were misting over. As a tear spilled over, she wiped it in an attempt to gain some composure. She cleared her throat.

"Now, you get going so you can back before it's too late. Don't make me worry."

"I won't." They gave each other a heartfelt hug.

"Kristina." Alexis said over her head.

"Yeah?"

"This isn't a free pass or anything. I'm going to take your word and believe _really hard_ that Ethan is just a friend."

Kristina chuckled against her mother's chest. "I know. And we _are_ just friends."

They pulled away from each other.

"I love you, Mom."

"I love you, too. Good luck."

"Thanks." Kristina made her way over to the door, taking a moment to look over her shoulder back at her mother. She smiled and gave her a little wave before she left.

* * *

With every turn in the road, Kristina was tempted to change her path. She knew she had to confront this head-on like she told her mother she would. But that didn't stop her heart from racing or her palms from sweating.

Before she knew it, she was in front of the Star. She gripped the steering wheel and tried to calm her pacing heart by taking deep breaths.

"Come on. You can do this," she encouraged herself. With one final look in the rearview mirror, she unbuckled her seatbelt and forced her shaky legs to take her to the door. The Haunted Star had been out of commission for quite some time, so she didn't have to worry about getting in trouble for being there. Luke wouldn't be in the way because he had gone out of town again on some new adventure. She wasn't sneaking around behind her parents' backs. Well, her mother's, at least. Basically, she had no excuses. She just needed to do this, as much for Ethan as for herself. She owed him so much.

Not surprisingly, she found that the front door was open. She cringed a bit at the last time she had been there, when she shamelessly threw herself at Ethan while wearing that ridiculous dress. He embarrassed her that night, but she made a fool of herself the minute she came up with that plan. That was also the night she made a fool of Kiefer, and received what was at the time the worst beating from him.

"Hello?"

If Kristina wasn't frozen in place from the sound of his voice, she would have turned around and run back to her car.

Ethan appeared from the room behind the bar. His eyebrows shot up when he saw her.

"Kristina!"

He hadn't seen her since the hospital. There was so much he wanted to tell her. He'd finally come to the conclusion recently that she might really be done with him. He gave up any hope of them being friends again, let alone...

"What are you doing here? I was beginning to think you were avoiding me," he said as he nervously ran a hand through his hair.

"I was." She tried to think of something more to say. But it turned out he still gave her that same feeling he did before her revelation: and absolute hopelessness.

"I, uh..." She cleared her throat. "I came to talk...to you. It's really important."

"That's great! I mean, I've needed to talk to you about something important too."

"You have?" Kristina was sure that Ethan would have been relieved with her not bothering her anymore.

"Yeah. Come take a seat."

She slowly walked over to a bar stool, and he sat down next to her.

"Love—"

"Ethan, please don't," Kristina interrupted. She didn't need him calling her endearing pet names or being nice to her right now. She just needed to say her piece and leave.

"Just let me say this before I lose my nerve."

Ethan nodded his head in agreement. He had already waited this long, a few minutes couldn't hurt.

"I want to apologize to you. I _need_ to. I made such a complete mess of everything. Not just for myself of for my family, but for you especially. You have to be the most forgiving person in the world to not hate me for what I did to you."

Ethan opened his mouth in protest, but Kristina quickly held up a hand to stop him.

"I don't deserve your kindness," she continued, looking intently at her lap. "I never have. But I am so grateful that you've shown it to me, especially in a time when I felt like I was completely alone. Even when you're angry with me, I know you still care. And I cared about you, too, a lot more than I should have. It made me do a lot of things that I'm not proud of. But my own feelings overshadowed anyone else's and all logic. I realize how wrong I was, but there's not much that can change now.

"I wish I could just be your friend now, but honestly, I think that it would hurt too much for me to pretend that I'm okay with you and Maya, or that I don't want more than what you can give me. And maybe one day, I won't, and we really can be friends. But until that day, I think it'll be better—easier—if we just go our separate ways. I'll be leaving for Yale soon anyway, so I think I might as well get used to it now."

Kristina had already cried over her decision when she practiced her monologue alone in her room, but she was convinced of her decision. So she didn't know how it was possible that she was crying so much in front of him now.

She lifted her hands to wipe her face. She hesitantly looked up see Ethan's reaction. His face was turned toward the bar and his eyes were contemplative.

Kristina sighed raggedly, suddenly feeling out of energy. She needed to get out of there. She stood took a step closer to Ethan. His head snapped to face her again. She placed a hand on his arm, all too aware that this could be the last time she ever touched him, a thought that nearly made her fall to pieces.

"Goodbye, Ethan," she whispered.

Still in shock, Ethan couldn't find the words he had earlier been so eager to tell her. Instead, he listened to her footfall getting farther and farther away. He couldn't believe this. He was so sure that his fantasy of the two of them sharing a life would come to fruition. But now, she was leaving. And he was letting her.

Kristina tried to keep the wails she desperately needed to let out locked inside her chest until she was safely in her car. She clutched at her jacket over her chest, feeling constricted by everything around her.

As she reached for the door, she heard it.

"Kristina."

She refused to turn around, to allow him to see how broken she really was, but again felt frozen in place.

"Kristina," he said again. This time his voice was softer, and she could feel his presence directly behind her.

"Kristina," he said a final time, with more urgency, before turning her around to face him.

She wouldn't look into his eyes. He cupped a hand on the side of her face.

"Look at me," he said.

She shook her head, knowing that those eyes would keep her fixated on to him; she might not ever be able to leave.

"Look at me," he ordered again.

Kristina's heartbeat was pounding ten times louder and a hundred times faster. Despite her head telling her not to, her heart couldn't resist. She lifted her eyes to look into his, surprised by their intensity.

"Ethan," she practically whimpered.

He no longer had the words, but, looking into her eyes, he realized that he didn't need them. He would just show her.

He slowly leaned closer, and Kristina's breath hitched. Against all reasoning, she felt herself meeting him halfway, and before either knew, everything was _right_.

Their kiss became frantic as they tried to make up for lost time. Ethan lifted her into his arms and haphazardly took them to his bedroom. Once he laid her his bed, he stood above her.

He looked at her questioningly, although he was pretty sure that she wanted this moment as much as he did. Her smile further convinced him, and he returned it with one of his own.

They didn't worry about anything else in the entire world. It was just them, as it should have been all along. With only each other, they reached a level of bliss, of _love_ that neither had ever felt before.


	16. Chapter 16: Three

_Three._..

Sam awoke to find herself alone, the room only slightly illuminated by the cracked door to the lit hallway. She must have slept through the entire morning and evening again. She was a little disoriented from the medication that still hadn't completely worn off yet. She slowly got up and reached for the lamp on the stand beside the bed. She threw her feet over the side of the bed and stretched. When she felt strong enough, she stood, stretching again. She grabbed her phone and ventured out of the room, making her way downstairs.

"Jason?" she called out, even though she could tell he wasn't there; it was too quiet. Not that she expected a lot of noise from Jason, but he would have answered her. The lights were still on. She just assumed that he was out on business or something. Ever since Dante of all people came over a few days before, Jason had been furiously working on a mission that he refused to tell her anything about, except that it had to do with Franco. She would have argued even more than she did for more information, but Jason convinced her that she wouldn't have been able to do anything about it in her condition anyway. She felt like a child, but she knew she he wouldn't budge on this one.

The place felt eerily empty now. Sure, she had been alone at the Penthouse plenty of times, but that familiarity didn't stop a shiver from running up her spine. Maybe it was just the thought of being in such a vulnerable medical state that had her a little on edge. She looked around the room again, feeling as if something was out of place. That's when she noticed that the front door was barely cracked open. _How had she missed it?_ She hesitantly walked over to close it while clutching her phone, the panic rising in her chest. There was no reason to be worried, though. She knew that Jason had guards positioned all over the building. No one could get in or out without being noticed. But she also knew that Franco had somehow easily gotten pass them before.

Just as she finished locking the door, she turned and saw the man of her current nightmares. She flung back herself in surprise of his close proximity, wincing as her head made contact with the door. Then she heard that memorable sickening, condescending voice. "Hi, Sam."

She turned and her hands quickly made their way to the undo the locks.

"Ah, ah, ah."

Sam felt the cold metal make contact with the back of her neck, causing her to freeze.

"Not so fast."

Sam mentally chided herself for becoming prey to him again. Still, she didn't want him to see how scared she really was.

"Since when did you start using guns?"

Franco outright laughed. "Sammy, haven't you been paying attention to my latest work? Oh, that's right. You've been otherwise preoccupied with your own problems. I'm sure Jason didn't want to burden you with his. Well the point is, I've found myself a new medium. It's true; I could never figure out why Jason preferred such a messy way of getting rid of someone, so I decided to try it out myself. And what can I say? I'm actually a fan. Now, why don't we go have a seat on the couch?"

Franco slid the gun down, now aiming at her back. Sam silently prayed for whatever he was planning to be over quickly. She slowly turned to face him again, allowing him to guide her to the couch. He motioned for her to sit, and she reluctantly obliged, all the while trying to remember every place there was a weapon hidden. She couldn't reach any of them discreetly. Franco walked around the back of the sofa, still pointing the gun.

"You know, it's funny," he said. "Almost a year ago, you and I were doing the exact same thing, except this time _I_ have the gun. I bet you wish you pulled the trigger then."

Sam couldn't even think straight right now. Her mind was racing with questions. _How did he get there? What was he planning on doing? Where the hell was Jason?_

"That day, you were gracious enough to let me go, so I'm going to repay the favor. I just need you to give Jason a little message. You know, I really think those cops and _Spinelli _are slowing him down. He's halfway across the country right now looking for me. Sometimes I give him too much credit. And then he left you here all by yourself? Well, he did leave those incompetent guards, but we don't have to worry about them anymore. So..."

He startled her by leaping over the back of the couch and landing next to her.

"Don't be afraid, Sam. The old you wouldn't have been. What ever happened to that tough woman who hung herself to escape prison? Who faced murderers and attacked men three times her size? Who was never afraid to bitch-slap any woman who got in her way?"

_How...?_

"You've gotten soft over the years, Sam. Maybe you're the reason Jason has lost focus. Not that I blame him. You're not bad to look at."

He took the gun and ran it softly up and down Sam's arm, chuckling when he saw her eyes widening.

"Don't worry, Sam. I'm not that kind of guy. I really did just come to tell Jason something."

"What?" Sam snapped, still facing forward.

Franco sighed, bringing the gun back to the side of Sam's neck. "I was getting there. Just let him know that it's rude for the host not to be present when expecting company. _Next_ time, I won't be as understanding."

Franco removed the gun and replaced it with his lips in a quick peck that made Sam nauseous. "Bye, Sam. I'll be seeing you around."

Just like that he was gone. Sam's brain just wasn't functioning right because there was no way Franco had just manipulated her again. He was right about one thing: the old Sam would have wrestled the gun away and turned it on him. But then again, the old Sam wasn't recovering from brain surgery. _Usually_. When she finally came to her senses, she remembered that she had her phone. Immediately she called Jason.

Instead of ringing, the call went straight to voicemail. She listened to his brief message and quickly relayed her own.

"Jason, I don't know where you are, but Franco was just here. _In your house_. I don't know what the hell is going on and I really wish you would tell me. Just...call me."

She sighed and tossed her phone beside her. She looked at the door and again went to lock it. She leaned her forehead against the door, rubbing her temples. She just needed this to all to be over. No more Franco, no more headaches. She just needed her family.

She picked up her phone again and dialed her mother's number. She just needed to hear her voice. At times, it would drive her up the wall, but her mother was there for her when she really needed it.

"Hello?"

"Mom?"

"Yes? Sam, are you okay?"

Sam sighed into the phone. Was she okay?

"I'm...I'm just a little jumpy, but yeah, I'll be okay. How are you?"

"I'm fine honey. How are, _really_?"

Sam chuckled at her mother's intuition, ever over the phone.

"It's nothing to worry about. I just...I haven't talked to you in a while. How is everything?"

"Sam, I wish you wouldn't keep things from me, but I digress. Everything's fine on my end. Kristina's out a little later than I would like, but I'm sure she's okay. She sent me a text message. 'Don't freak out, will be home kinda late.' What does that even mean?"

"It means that she will be home eventually and you shouldn't stress about it."

"I'm not stressing or freaking out. I would just feel so much more comfortable knowing that _all_ of my girls are safe."

Sam looked over to the door. "Yeah, I know."

She heard Alexis yawn on the other end and laughed.

"Sorry I called so late. I've been knocked out from drugs all day. I'll just call you back some other time."

"No, no, it's fine. I'm up. I can talk."

"Mom, stop waiting up for Kristina and go to sleep. She's fine, I'm sure."

Alexis sighed. "I know, you're right. I guess I'll go off to bed now. I love you. Goodnight."

"Love you too, Mom. Bye."

Sam hung up the phone and looked around the room. She walked over to the end table and unattached the gun that was strapped underneath it. It was probably unlikely that Franco would come back that night, but he was anything but predictable.

Surveying the room one last time and making a sweep of the rooms upstairs, she went back to Jason's bed and placed the gun underneath a pillow.


	17. Chapter 17: Four

_Four..._

"Mom, Kristina isn't answering her phone. She's gonna be late dropping me—"

Molly stopped in her tracks. She expected to find her mother where she had left her only twenty minutes ago, lying on the couch.

"Mom!"

The little girl ran over to her mother, who was now collapsed on the floor near the front door with a trail of blood trickling from her mouth.

Molly didn't know what to do. This wasn't supposed to happen. She was going to get better. She was going to see her grandkids. She promised!

"Mom?" Molly gently shook her mother's shoulder. When she didn't get a response, she leaned in closer to check her breathing. She tried her hardest to strain her ears for any sign of life. She began to check her pulse. She pressed her fingers harder and harder, determined to find something, anything. She was near hysterics as she reached for her cell phone. It fumbled in her hands as her unsteady fingers dialed the three-digit number. As soon as she heard a voice on the other end she began screaming.

"My mother needs to get to the hospital NOW. She had lung cancer and she's passed out on the floor! I don't think she's breathing. It's 57 Lake Road. Please hurry!"

Molly didn't wait for any response as she ended the call and let her phone hit the ground.

"It's okay, Mom. Someone's coming to help. You're going to be okay. I'm going to call Kristina again. And Sam and Nikolas. We're all here for you. Please, Mom. Don't—don't leave me! Please! I promise I will do anything you ever ask me. Just stay with us. You can't die. You promised me. You promised!"

Molly looked through tear-blurred eyes at her mother's face. Her beautiful face with that ugly stain. She didn't know why, but took the helm of her sundress and began to wipe the blood from her mother's mouth. She knew that her mother wouldn't want to be seen like that, like she might have been in pain. She wouldn't want anyone to worry about her. The action only roused more tears. This was it. She knew it in her head, but her heart was not completely convinced yet, even as it broke.

As Molly scrubbed her mother's face, her sobs had quieted, and she'd begun telling her mother 'it's okay' over and over again. She slightly rocked back and forth. She didn't notice the presence of the paramedics who rushed in until she was being physically removed from her mother's side.

At the separation, Molly began screaming.

"NO! No, that's my mom! That's _my_ mother. This is _her_ home! You can't just come in and _take_ her. You don't even _know_ her! She was _my_ mother! You CAN'T."

"Molly!"

Molly turned to face whoever was holding her arms.

"Mac? Please, they can't take her. She belongs here. Tell them! I made a mistake. I shouldn't have called. Please, Mac. Tell them."

Mac's heart was breaking as he looked into Molly's pleading eyes. He knew the kind of pain she was in now, and the denial. He almost began crying himself as he watched Alexis now being rolled out of the house. He looked back down at Molly, and it was like holding Maxie after Georgie's death all over again.

"Come on," he said as half-carried Molly out after the paramedics. "I'll take you to her."

_**A/N: Sorry for the long wait, but I hope that four chapter updates in one day earns me a little bit of your forgiveness. Please read and review.**_

_**btw, sorry for the sadness in this chapter. I still hope you enjoyed it.**_


	18. Chapter 18: Reality

"Jason, Franco was _here_. Why aren't you home yet?"

Sam was trying to be patient and understanding, but that man was ruining her life, and she just wanted Jason to come back home so she could feel safe again.

She heard him sigh on the other end. "Sam, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I let him get that close to you again. But I promise I'll be there as soon as I can."

"I know. And I hate being so needy, I just...I wish you could be here. I would feel safer with you around."

"And I would be there with you right now if I could. But I'm doing this so I can keep my family safe, to protect you. Me and Dante are on the next flight home. Spinelli's and Lucky have been working together trying to get a location on Franco. They're pretty sure they know where he is. Hopefully Lucky won't act on anything before we get there. So I'll land in New York, take care of Franco first, and then I'll be home." Jason paused to take a breath. Sam could almost picture him stopping in his tracks to rub the bridge of his nose. She knew how stressed he must have been. "I'm sorry. I hate leaving you alone, especially so soon after being released from the hospital.

"I understand, completely. I would do the same if I was in your position. Just please be safe. And, I miss you."

"I miss you, too."

Sam sighed, leaning against the kitchen counter. She looked around the quiet, empty room. It was too calm on her end of the line. Eerily so.

"This should all be over by tomorrow, and then I'm coming home to you."

Sam really had no reason _not_ to believe him. She _had_ to if she wanted to hold on to her sanity.

"This lead that Lucky gave us could lead me and Dante right to Franco."

"I know, I know. I'll be waiting for you when you get home. I love you."

"I love you, too."

"You boys have fun."

Jason gave a small grunt before hanging up. Sam chuckled softly. She placed her phone on the counter and began to walk towards the coffee maker when her cell began buzzing.

She considered letting it ring; she knew it wasn't Jason again and she really wasn't in the talking mood. But she realized that it might be her mother checking in on her again.

When she saw the caller ID, her heart plummeted to her stomach. The last time she received a call from him didn't exactly bear good news.

Her mouth suddenly dry, she answered her phone. "Hello?" she asked hesitantly.

"Sam, it's Mac. Uh, I'm down here at the hospital with Molly."

"Molly? Is she okay?"

"She's, she'll be alright. But you should really get here as soon as you can. Also, I can't reach Kristina, but she should be here too."

"Mac, please. What's going on?"

"I will, when you get here."

"Mac—"

"Please, Sam. I'll explain everything to you when you get here. But Molly needs you here now."

"Okay. I'm on my way."

She pocketed her phone, grabbed her keys from the coffee table, and raced out the door.

"I..." Kristina began.

Ethan, who'd had his eyes closed, peeked down at the mass of chestnut hair. "Yeah, love?"

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry? What are you apologizing for? That was..."

"It was amazing. I don't think I've ever been that happy before. But, we shouldn't have done that."

"Kristina? What do you mean? What's wrong?"

"This wasn't fair of me. I don't think I'll ever regret last night, but it probably wasn't the best time for it to happen."

"And why not? I thought last night was perfect."

"Yeah, except for the fact that you're still married."

Ethan took a deep breath. "That's part of what I wanted to talk to you about last night. Maya and I, it's over."

Kristina was sure Ethan could feel waves of tension roll off of her. "Really?"

"Yeah. When I ran into you at the hospital, I was there to finally sit her down so we could have a real conversation about getting an annulment and ending our sham of a marriage. She was pretty understanding. She was just as much in it for the money as I was, but she didn't want to keep living a lie, either."

"Wow." Kristina wasn't really surprised. She had a feeling that Maya was kind of low-maintenance and very reasonable. But there was still one thing she wondered about.

"What about the money? Are you two going to stay married until the year is up like Edward required?"

Ethan sighed. As much as he loved money, he was willing to give up his payday for Kristina. "It doesn't matter. I don't exactly _need_ the money. And surely Edward will provide Maya with anything she'll ever need. I just couldn't put up with it any longer. And staying in that house was starting to drive me mad. I'd much rather be here with you," he said before kissing her temple.

They were quiet for a while longer before Kristina decided to bring up the smaller elephant in the room.

"Still, I meant what I said last night. I'm leaving for Yale in the fall. We don't have a lot of time left together."

"Doesn't matter. I'll be wherever you need me to be. If you want me to move to Connecticut, I'm there."

"Ethan, be serious."

"I am, love. I want you to know that I'm serious about us."

Kristina sighed. As much as she would love to have Ethan by her side and still attend her dream school, she couldn't ask him to do that.

"I would love that, I really would. But I can't ask you to leave your family and friends behind for me. Besides, be honest. Do you think you would be happy if you had to rearrange your entire life for me? You would probably get restless and end up leaving anyway. And then we'd end up resenting each other."

"I could never resent you. But, you're probably right about getting restless."

"So..."

"So...maybe we'll try the long-distance thing? It's not ideal, but I'm willing to try to make it work. One thing I know for sure is that, I'm going to miss you."

She knew that he meant it. Hell, she would believe anything he said right now, wrapped in his arms.

"I already miss you." Kristina lifted her head from Ethan's chest. She had wanted this for so long. She thought about how unbelievably right this felt, and how she couldn't imagine being anywhere else. Maybe she should feel guilty for sleeping with a married man, but his _marriage _was practically already over. This—in his bed, in his arms—is where she was meant to be. She was sure of it.

Ethan grinned at her. "What are you smiling at?" he asked.

"I'm smiling at you. You make me happy."

Even as she said that, her smile began to fade. "What's wrong?" he asked, slowly sitting them up in his bed.

"I'm leaving, but I don't want to leave you."

"Krissy, you're not leaving for another two months. We'll deal with it then."

She just sighed and allowed Ethan to pull her back into his arms. There was nothing she could do about it now anyway. She couldn't stop time and spend the rest of her life surrounded by the people she loved, despite how much she wanted to.

"Oh, crap!" she exclaimed as she practically jumped from the bed, the thought of her family reminding her of something she neglected to do.

"What?" Ethan asked, almost just as alarmed.

"What time is it?"

"Uh, I—I don't know. What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just need to call my mom real quick before she sends the PCPD out to find me," she explained as she scrambled for her clothes.

"I thought you texted her last night."

"I did, but I didn't think I would be out this long. I just don't want her to worry. Where is my phone?"

Kristina had her back to Ethan as she buttoned her jeans and pulled her shirt over her head.

"I don't know. Where did you leave it?"

"Well, I wasn't exactly paying attention. I just...tossed it somewhere."

"Uh..." Ethan felt around the bed sheets and covers in a half-hearted attempt to help. "Oh, I think I got it."

Kristina joined him on the bed again and took the cell phone he held out to her. As she prepared to call home, Ethan pulled her close.

"Oh, my god."

"What's wrong? Did Alexis leave you dozens of messages?"

"No. But someone's been calling me for hours. Sam called me like ten times. So did Mac. One from Molly. Six voicemails?"

Ethan waited for Kristina to listen to her messages, concern crossing his own face. But she continued to stare at her phone with an indiscernible expression.

"Love? Aren't you going to get your messages or call your sister back?"

"No," Kristina whispered.

"Why not?" Ethan asked as he gently rubbed her arms.

"I can't. Something happened. Something's wrong."

"You don't know that."

"She didn't call."

"Who? Krissy, you're not making a lot of sense."

"My mom," she explained with tears burning her eyes. "She didn't call. She would have—she didn't call. Not once. Oh, god!"

"Hey, hey. Breathe. Kristina, look at me," Ethan urged. By now Ethan understood where she was going with this, and she was on the verge of hyperventilating. He pulled her even closer.

"It may not be what you think. You have to listen to your voicemails first, and then we'll go from there, alright?"

"But I already know—"

"Please. You're going to drive yourself crazy. You can't jump to any conclusions."

Kristina took a deep breath and nodded her head, but didn't move her hands.

"It's okay," Ethan said, reaching for the phone to check for himself. He went to her voicemails. After holding the phone to his ear for a moment, he let the first message play on speaker.

"_Kristina, it's Mac. I—I need you to come...to the hospital. I'm here with Molly. I can explain the rest to you when you get here. Call me back as soon as you get this. Or, just get here as soon as you can. I'll call Sam and let her know...Uh, be safe."_

"No, no, no." She took her phone back from Ethan.

"Kristina, please calm down. We'll go down to the hospital now, okay?"

"Mac left this message...two hours ago? Oh, god! I'm too late!"

"You don't know that!" Ethan said a bit more forcefully than he meant to. He sighed and loosened his grip on her. "I'm going to get dressed, and I'll drive you there, alright?"

Kristina nodded. Ethan gave her right temple a kiss as he stood to find his own clothes. She was sure that the rest of the messages would be along the same lines, but she felt like she needed confirmation of her worst fear before she saw everyone else. She lifted her phone to listen to the next message privately this time. After about two seconds, she really wished she hadn't.

"_Kristina? Kristina, where are you? Please. I...I need you. I—don't know what—what to do. I'm so scared. Please..."_

Kristina had never heard her baby sister sound so desperate or confused, or defeated.

So this was it? Her mother was gone, just like that. No, not just like that, but _hours_ ago. It didn't feel real to her. And maybe it wasn't. Maybe her mom just had a setback that had Molly panicking. And everything would be okay.

Kristina reached for the sandals she wore last night and slipped them on. She stood, and realized that everything was numb. Her mind was running a lot slower than usual. Sure, everything _might_ be okay. But she couldn't hold on to that hope. Kristina didn't know how, but she just _knew_. Everything would be worse now.

"Krissy, are you ready?" Ethan asked. She'd forgotten he was even there.

"Yes," she said stiffly. She saw that her body was moving, but she still felt nothing. Ethan had her hand, was pulling it as they made their way to his car. He opened the passenger door for her, and she immediately slid into the seat. She wondered how she was able to do that. She didn't have any control over her body, yet it did everything it was supposed to. Was she in shock? That had to be it, because she knew what happened to her mom, but she wasn't falling apart. _Maybe later_, she thought.

Ethan was talking to her. Telling her not to worry. Everything would be okay. She said something back; it must have been the right thing to say, she assumed as he took her limp left hand and brought it to his mouth with a kiss. He was so kind, so giving. She was lucky to have him. Her mom wouldn't be too please that she was dating Ethan because of his age, but Kristina was sure that once she saw how happy he made her, Alexis would accept Ethan as a part of her life. Yes, he was right. Everything would be okay.

_**A/N: okay, it's been MONTHS, and I'm so sorry about that. Just giving a little heads up, I'm going to be wrapping up this story soon so I can focus on the other ones I already have up. So those of you that have been patient and have waited for this, thank you for hanging in there. This was the first fanfiction story I ever wrote, so all of your reviews and follows have been very much appreciated. Finally, readers old and new, please enjoy. ~Ashley**_


	19. Chapter 19: Support

_Jason_

How many times can one person experience heartache before it gets to be too much? How long can one withstand such agony? Doesn't God or the universe or whatever is out there understand that they get it? Life sucks, a lot more for some than others.

Jason knew that Sam and her sisters were strong, but really, why did the weight of the world insistently fall on their shoulders? And he knew that if ever Sam really needed him, now was the time. He wouldn't let her down again.

When he arrived at the hospital, he saw her standing against a wall, looking up and holding the pendant of her necklace. Her lips were moving slightly, like she was speaking to someone. Was she praying? Sam had never really been the type, but in desperate times people often turned to religion. He quickly closed the distance between them. Before she even noticed him, he had her in his arms. After a few seconds of surprise, she let herself crumble. She doesn't cry or say anything. She just lets her aching body surrender into his arms, Jason ready to catch her.

_Ethan_

It'd been an exhausting, life-changing couple of days. The last few hours had been life-changing—more so for Kristina than for him. The night after their professions of love, Kristina once again fell asleep in his arms. Well, she tried to. It was a battle trying to convince her to get some rest, but once she finally conceded, she stirred restlessly beside him on the uncomfortably small couch. He sat up while she lay in his arms and across his lap, legs bent at the knees and feet resting against the arm due to the lack of space.

He played with the ends of her hair between the tips of his fingers absently while he thought. He needed to find a way to make things better for her. He wasn't sure there was anything else he could do except stay by her side, so that's what he would do.

_Mac_

He tried not to, but he had a lot of regrets in life. He regrets not protecting his girls from the evils of the world. He regrets not having had a successful marriage, the years he could have had with his brother thrown away over major misunderstandings. And now, he regrets "taking it slow" with Alexis. There was so much wasted time. All of those unexpressed feelings for each other...they were acting like a couple of teenagers, and not in a good way. It seems he is always learning the same lesson over and over again: life's too short. He wasn't exactly getting any younger. It was time for him to grab the bull by the horns. If only he'd listened to Molly sooner.

He sighed and looked down at the little girl by his side, staring off to the distance with her arms crossed tightly in front of her. She'd been stuck to him like glue since she was removed from her mother's side. He wasn't really sure why—maybe it comforted her some—but he didn't mind. Whatever he could do to help her, he would.

_Nikolas_

If he never saw the inside of a hospital for the rest of his life, that would be fine by him. A more positive person may see it as a symbol for the miraculous recoveries and second chances his family has gone through here (after all, things could have always gone worse). But this was beginning to become an unwelcomed constant in their lives.

And the money, the power, they seemed very futile now. Not to say he didn't demand the _absolute_ best for his beloved aunt, but he still felt useless. He felt like a failure, as ridiculous as it may seem. For all of his promises, he hadn't been trying too hard to be closer with his cousins. His only excuse was that work got in the way. His family wasn't at the top of his priority list, something he now deeply regretted. And now it may be too late. Alexis was the one that usually brought them together. What if they didn't have her to push them together anymore?

_Sonny_

Once again, Sonny sat in the hospital chapel. He said another prayer for Alexis and her girls. He sighed, thinking of the mother of his only living daughter. Thinking of that stubborn, brilliant, pain-in-the-ass, strong woman put a sad smile on his face. It was hard for him sometimes to imagine this force of a person as destructible, but times like these again reminded him of the rare occasions where she let her walls down and showed her vulnerability. She was human, same as anyone else.

Sonny had experienced plenty of losses in his life, starting at a young age. A part of him kept him prepared at all times for tragedies; it was a necessity in his line of work. But for someone like Alexis, who seemed to always fight and claw her way out of any tough situation, to lose any battle was...unthinkable. Impossible. Right?

_Ric_

He checked his phone again for any more missed calls. Molly hadn't called him back. He wasn't sure if that was a good sign, or a bad one. Or maybe she just didn't want to talk to him. He wouldn't have been surprised if she was angry with him right now. And why shouldn't she be? He was never there for her. Sure, there was the occasional holiday when Alexis would send their daughter to L.A., but he wasn't there for the important things, the traumatic things. Well, he would change that now.

His daughter needed him, and he wouldn't let her down again. After everything was finished with Alexis, he would make sure that Molly was with him again. It wasn't going to be like last time; no custody hearings, no dirty tricks. They'd already decided a while ago that this is what was best for Molly. He was sure Alexis hadn't told her yet, and she would probably hate him for uprooting her life so abruptly. But she was his child and they needed to be together, now more than ever.

_**A/N: Sorry that there is minimal Davis girls scenes in this one. I just wanted to get the perspective of the men in their lives, including Sonny and Ric. And sorry to leave you hanging about Alexis. A few of you have been begging me not to kill off Alexis. I wasn't sure where I was going, so I came up with this. Find out her fate in the next chapter. Hope you ENJOYED! ~Ashley**_


	20. Chapter 20: Safe

"No."

Was he crazy? Take Molly? To California? Hell no!

"Be reasonable. I can take care of her there. She needs me. We've already spent too much time apart."

"And that's _my_ fault?!"

"No, but—"

"Dammit, Ric! I'm not dead yet!"

If she had the energy, Alexis would throw the pitcher of water on her bedside right at his head. How dare he try to take her daughter away? Again!

"Alexis, we talked about this. I thought we were on the same page. You said that if you couldn't handle it, Molly would be under my care."

"Couldn't handle it as in _six feet under_. Not some stupid fainting spell!"

"'Fainting spell'? Really, that's what you're going with? Alexis, you had a coughing attack so bad that you fainted and hit your head on a table on the way down. You were unconscious for hours. So now, on top of dealing with cancer, you have a serious concussion! And the fact that Molly was the one that found you like that should scare you to death."

"You think I wanted her to see me like that? Of course I feel terrible about it. I can't stand that it happened, but it did. I've talked to her about it, and she's okay. And as for my concussion, I was unconscious for less than an hour and I'm recovering quickly. I can take care of my children."

"What about when you start your experimental trail? I mean, are you even still a viable patient there?"

"Yes, I can still participate in the trial. Believe it or not, this little setback actually makes me _more_ qualified. It's summer, and I'll only have to stay at the clinic overnight for a week, then I'll continue with weekly sessions. Molly has summer school; so really, she'll only miss me for the one week."

"And during that week? Where will she stay, with Sam? She can barely take care of herself!"

"Then _you_ take care of Molly! You can stay at the lake house while I'm away. Then, if you want, you can stay at a hotel throughout the summer so she can still visit you and go to school."

"So you expect me to completely leave my life behind be—because _you_ are too selfish to think of what's best for our daughter?!"

"Leave your life behind?" asked an indignant voice from the doorway.

Both turned to see Molly with tears down her face, Sonny holding the door open behind her.

"Molly—"

"Just stop it!" she screamed to her dad. "Talk about leaving your life behind! Wasn't _I_ your life? Didn't you leave _me_? You can't take a couple of weeks off from your precious job to actually spend time with me, but you can _leave_ me so you can just forget about the mess you made of your life in Port Charles! We've seen each other all of five minutes since you've been back before you started attacking Mom. And now you just want to come and _take_ me?! How dare you? Did you ever stop to think about what I want or need? I want to stay in New York. I _need_ to be with my family. And as far as I'm concerned, that no longer includes _you_."

She turned around and stormed out, accidentally hitting her uncle's arm on the way out. Ric looked at Alexis with exasperation. He was expecting some resistance, but not that big of an explosion from her. Of course she resented him; he wouldn't be surprised if her so-called "family" was feeding her stories of Big Bad Ric. This is why he needed the time with her, though. He wanted to repair their relationship.

"I'll go get her," Sonny offered.

"No. She's _my_ daughter. I'll take care of it."

"Ric, just give her a chance to cool off," Alexis said. "Besides, we need to finish this conversation, _now_." She turned to Sonny. "Thank you." He nodded and left the room to find his niece.

Sonny pinched the bridge of his nose as he headed to the waiting area where the rest of the family was. Nikolas was huddled in a corner on his cell phone, as Jason and Sam sat closely in a set of chairs with rare smiles on their faces. Then he saw Kristina in a position he'd often found her in over the week they'd been stationed at the hospital (though Alexis insisted that it wasn't necessary): lying sleepily with Ethan's arms wrapped around her.

Sonny sighed. He may have agreed to respect his daughter and her choices, but he couldn't fathom the day he would ever be okay with _this_. She was still his baby girl, no matter how hard she ever tried to disprove that. And Ethan...he wasn't the worst man she could have ever chosen, but still...

He cleared his throat as he approached the group. "Have, uh, have any of you seen Molly?"

"No, why?" Sam stood and asked, her protective nature very evident.

"She was just upset about something and she ran off."

"What made her so upset?" Kristina asked, sitting up.

"Ah, just something she overheard. I'll go find her."

He started to leave when Kristina stopped him. "Dad, wait. We can go look for her." She looked at Ethan for his input.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry, we'll find her." Without another word, he and Kristina stood up and walked out to the hallway.

Once they were gone, Sam asked, "What was wrong with her, Sonny?"

He sighed heavily and made his way to a chair. "We overheard an argument between Alexis and Ric. Then she yelled at him and took off."

"Well what were they arguing about?"

Sonny had to think about this one. There was no one in this room who didn't have a reason to hate Ric, and they all loved Molly just as fiercely. And if he told Sam, he was sure she would react before she even had the chance to think about it. But he knew he couldn't keep it from them, and they most likely would have found out sooner or later anyway.

"Ric was talking about taking Molly back to L.A. with him."

"What?!" Sam and Nikolas said.

"No, he can't do that! He can't do that, right?" Sam looked at Nikolas for an answer.

"I'm not sure if he can, but he _won't_ if I have anything to say about it. Don't worry."

"Don't worry? What if he takes this all the way to court? That would kill Alexis. She can't deal with this now!"

"Sam, I'll take care of it. I promise." Nikolas left them as he whipped out his cell phone once again and walked away.

Sam then crossed her arms and looked at Sonny as if asking, _what are you going to do about it?_

He threw up his arms in defeat as he sank lower in his seat.

"Molly?"

Kristina found her little sister sitting in an empty corridor of the hospital, with her knees drawn up to her face. Her shoulders were shaking with her sobs. Kristina rushed to her side and put her arms around her.

"Hey, dolly. What's wrong?"

Through her crying, Molly was able to gasp, "I...thought...she was—she was...dead!"

"What? Oh, sweetie. Mom's fine. She's going to be just fine."

"I know! I mean, I _know_, but...God, I hate this place! I hate that she's sick. I hate that my dad came back. I hate him!"

"Molly—"

"I do! He has no right to try to finagle his way back into my life now."

Kristina was quiet for a moment, her heart breaking for her little sister. She sighed and pulled back from her.

"'Finagle,' Molly? Really? Who says that?"

Despite her anger, Molly laughed at her sister's teasing.

"Look, Molly. I understand how you feel. Your dad wasn't there when you felt like you needed him the most, which was pretty much all the time. But I know you love him, just like I love my dad. Sonny and Ric have both screwed up big time in our lives. But I think we both know how devastated we would be if they were out of our lives completely. So don't say you hate him. Be mad at him, cry about him, but don't hate him, because you never know when it'll be the last time you ever see him."

Ethan approached them slowly and sat on the other side of Molly.

"She's right, you know. Take it from someone who's actually lost his parents. I had a great relationship with my mom and dad, but I really took that for granted. When they died, I finally realized how much. Their deaths taught me to accept the people in my life and to love them every day that I have them."

"Molly, it won't be easy to accept your dad back into your life. I know you're upset but please, don't shut him out. Just like I need my dad right now, you need yours."

Molly wiped the tears from her face and looked at her sister who, just a few months ago, would go to great lengths just to get Sonny's attention. She figured if anyone knew how she was feeling right now, it would be Kristina. But, there was that other matter.

"He wants to take me back with him," she admitted quietly. "But there's no way I'm leaving you all!" she added hurriedly.

Kristina looked at Ethan with panic. How could Ric do this? She was trying to look out for both of her sisters, but how could she do that if Molly was halfway across the country?

Ethan reached his arm across Molly's back and laid his hand on Kristina's shoulder.

"Maybe you can talk to him, Molly. I happen to know that you can debate with the best of them. I'm sure you can reason with him. Just try to do it without getting too upset or making him feel guiltier than he probably already is. 'Kay?"

"Ethan, you don't understand. My dad's just about as stubborn as my mom. Once their minds are made up about something, it's almost impossible to change it."

"Well, what did Mom say about it?" Kristina asked.

"She was absolutely against it. That's the part that kills me. If Mom told me she thought it was better for me to go away with my dad, I could understand that she didn't want me to see her when she was sick. But she _does_ want me here. And what if...what if I leave Port Charles and she gets sick again and I never get a chance to say goodbye?"

"Molly, don't even worry about that. Mom's not going anywhere. You think she keeps fighting her way back to us just to leave so soon? No, she's not going anywhere until she's good and ready. Got it?"

Molly sniffled and nodded slightly. "But what if my dad doesn't listen to me and just takes me back with him anyway?"

"I doubt Uncle Ric is that cruel. He just needs to see reason. And if he doesn't...well we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

Kristina hoped she was right about her uncle; just the _idea_ of leaving home was already hurting Molly so much. She couldn't imagine how she would be if she actually had to go.

"I can't believe Ric. It's not like he hasn't caused enough trouble already."

Jason nodded, though it was obvious that he had something else on his mind.

"Jason?" Sam asked. "What?"

He looked at her and sighed heavily.

"I'll tell you later. When we get home."

"Jason, no. Don't do that. What is it? Is it about Franco?"

"Sam, now's not the time. You just focus on your family."

"You're my family too. And something is obviously bothering you. Tell me," she pleaded.

Jason sighed. "You're right, it is about Franco. Just know that, we don't have to worry about him anymore."

There was a long pause before he said anything. "He's gone? For good? Like, _dead_ gone?"

Jason nodded, obviously not wanting to go into detail at the moment.

"When? How?"

"Sam, I'll tell you more about it later. Just know that everything's taken care of. You don't have to think about Franco anymore."

Sam blinked in disbelief. It was over? Just like that? She wondered if Lucky or Dante knew about it, or had anything to do with it. She hoped Lulu knew; Sam knew that the younger woman was strong, but that being kidnapped and nearly blown up by Franco really did a number on her. But there was one thing that she had to be sure of.

"Jason, nothing happened that could send you back to prison, right?"

He took both of her hands in his and turned so that his entire body was facing her.

"Sam, I promise, I would never do anything to be taken away from you again. I'm going to be here whenever you need me. I know I haven't been in the past, and I'm so sorry for that."

"You don't have to—"

"No, please, just let me say this. I need you to know that whenever I'm not with you, I'm thinking of you. And not being with you kills me. I don't want either of us to ever feel like that again. I love you. I will love you for the rest of my life, Sam McCall."

Jason wasn't what most people considered the romantic type, but Sam knew better. Only Jason Morgan could begin a conversation talking about a dead psychopath and not two minutes later reaffirm his love for her. And Sam wasn't exactly the standard romantic either, yet she found herself getting misty-eyed at his words. She tried to hide it, well aware that Sonny was seated not too far away and anyone could come back and see her like that.

"Jason...I love you too. With every part of my being. Mind, body, and soul."

Jason leaned into her and gave a slow but passionate kiss, and a tear slipped from Sam's eye. He pulled away after a moment and looked at her seriously with his own glistening blue eyes.

"Sam, I meant every word. You will always have my whole heart. And I...I don't know how else to say this but, I feel like you and me, that's it. Nothing ever made more sense to me than being with you."

"Ugh," Sam whined, wiping the tears from her face. "I can't believe you made me cry here. I hope you know that I feel exactly the same. But I know all of this already. What made you say all of this now?"

Jason smiled at her softly. "If you would let me finish, I could tell you."

"Oh well," Sam said, sitting up attentively with a playful smile.

"I...Maybe now isn't the right time. I know your mom is going to be fine and all, but I don't think the hospital's appropriate."

Sam scrunched her nose. "Appropriate? Appropriate for what?"

Jason sighed. "Then again, some people might think it's fitting."

"Jason, what are you talking about?"

He took a deep breath. "I'm talking about spending the rest of my life with you."

Sam still looked at him questioningly.

"Sam, I'm...I'm asking you to marry me."

Sam's eyebrows shot up and her entire body stiffened. "You...you're...you want to marry me?" she whispered, trying not to attract any attention their way.

"Yes."

"But...Maybe you need to think about this. It's kind of out of nowhere."

Jason put his hand on Sam's knee. He was expecting a similar response.

"No."

"No? Jason, I think maybe you...I don't know what going on in your mind, but it's been a really crazy year and we've both been through so much. Maybe you're doing this because you're, I don't know, trying to cheer me up or something, but I need you to know that I'm happy with where we are now. I know that I was just being ridiculous before when Brenda first came back and I was insecure, but I'm over that now."

"Sam. Listen to me. I love you more than life. I know—at least I hope—that you feel the same way me. I know that it's been a rough year, but I think it's only made _us_ stronger. This isn't about Brenda or anyone else. I'm not doing this just to make you feel better. And this isn't a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing."

He reached into the inside pocket of his jacket just as Kristina and Ethan returned with Molly. Sam heard them laughing as they approached from behind her. She reached out to stop Jason before anyone else saw what he was doing, but he gave her a look that let her know this was happening, whether she wanted it to or not. He proceeded to pull a small jewelry box from his pocket.

"I'm only going to ask you one more time. Samantha McCall, will you marry me?" He opened the box and revealed a beautiful diamond ring—not too big; he knew Sam wouldn't want to be flashy—on a silver band.

"Oh my gosh!" Molly squealed. Sonny looked up, relieved to see that his niece was back, but was soon taken in by the proposal he didn't even realize was happening right in front of him.

"Jason," Sam sighed. She looked from the ring and into the eyes of the man she loved more than she ever thought possible. "I can't believe you're proposing to me in the hospital...again."

"Yeah. Let's not make a habit of it. I want this to be the last time I ever have to ask you to marry me."

"Well it is getting a little tiresome. You're right. No more proposals. Let's just get it right this time."

"So, does that mean..."

"Yes! Yes, Jason. I'll marry you. I can't think of anything I'd want to do more."

Sam took Jason's face in her hands and kissed him fiercely, completely forgetting the audience until her sisters started cheering behind her.

"Let me see the—Jason! Put the ring on her finger," Kristina instructed.

"What ring?" Nikolas asked as he returned to the group. Everyone but the newly engaged couple turned to look at him. He looked at Sam's tear-stained face. "Did I miss something?"

"Jason just asked Sam to marry him, and she said yes!" Molly practically yelled with excitement.

"Oh. Um, congratulations. Wow. I was only gone for ten minutes."

Kristina and Molly practically jumped on Sam once Jason got the ring on. They clamored around her, dismissing the future groom altogether. Sonny went over to him and gave his friend a hug. "Congratulations, man. I'm a little surprised you waited to do it in front of everyone, though."

"Trust me, that wasn't how I planned it. But I had to do it."

"The moment was right, huh?"

"I guess so."

Ethan happily watched the sisters from the sideline. Nikolas stood off from the crowd a bit, letting them celebrate together. Then Molly looked at him and called him over.

He smiled and did as she wanted. "Isn't it beautiful?" Molly asked pointing to Sam's ring. "It's not ostentatious or anything, but I think it definitely suits Sam. Don't you think?"

Nikolas sighed. How could anyone not be in a festive mood with Molly around?

"It does suit her, very well. I'm very happy for you, Sam."

"Thank you," she said very seriously. "That really means a lot, coming from you."

Nikolas was surprised at how his simple congratulation warranted such a response. Then again, Jason Morgan was not particularly high on the list of people he wanted to join his family, and they didn't have the best past together. Sam probably thought he was going to denounce their marriage because of his past with Jason.

"I really mean it," he added for good measure. Sam smiled at him and went back to listening to her sisters' premature wedding plans.

"Molly."

The younger girl turned when she heard her father calling her. He stood behind Alexis's wheelchair.

"Mom, why are you out of bed?" Kristina asked accusingly.

"Relax. I just needed to tell you all that we've come to a decision."

"Molly," Ric said, slowly approaching his daughter. "I'm sorry. I was wrong. I shouldn't have even thought of doing anything before I talked to you. That was really unfair of me. But I need you to understand that I was just doing what I thought was best. What's really best for you is to be with your family. And even when you're mad at me, Molly, that _does_ include me."

Molly looked down sheepishly. "I'm sorry I said that. I didn't mean it. I was just...overwhelmed with everything. But what does all of this mean? You're going to let me stay with Mom?"

Ric sighed. "Yes. It's where you belong. But you also belong with me. So I'll be sticking around. I'm going to me here for you, Molly."

"Really?" He saw his little girl in that moment, who was usually masked by wisdom beyond her years. It nearly broke his heart, realizing that he had willingly given up precious time with her. She may not have let it show before, but he could see now just how much of an impact it was having on her. He should have known better.

"Really," he said, timidly reaching in for a hug. He was grateful when she reciprocated.

Everyone else watched quietly. Even those that may have had ill feelings towards Ric couldn't deny that it was a touching and long-awaited moment.

"Sam?" Alexis questioned after a moment.

"Yeah?"

"What the hell is that on your finger?"

_**Okay, that proposal was kind of cheesy, but I really needed it to happen. And YAY! Alexis didn't die. Anyway, thank you all for reading and I'll try to be more diligent with my uploads. Thanks for dealing with me. Hope you ENJOYED!**_

_**~Ashley**_


	21. Chapter 21: Goodnight

"How's it feel, getting ready to go to college?" Ethan asked as Kristina joined him in the foyer of her father's home.

"Well, I'm glad I'll be getting away from most of the people at school. I really can't take them anymore. But I think I just realized that I'm pretty much going to be going to school for the rest of my life."

"Hey, don't worry about it. You're going to kick Yale's ass. I know it."

Ethan wrapped his arm around Kristina and pulled her close.

"Why were you out here by yourself?" she asked.

"I don't know. I like your family and all, but I just needed a moment."

He went silent and Kristina waited for him to elaborate.

"They can be a bit much, huh?"

Ethan smirked. "No, it's not that really. I enjoy them, even Sonny and your brothers."

Kristina shot him a dubious look, but let it go. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah." He looked at her and then hung his head, knowing that she didn't believe him. "It's just...it's been a crazy year, yeah?"

Kristina nodded. So much had changed in her life in the past few months. The year started off with an unfortunate bang, with the bus crash that cost her friend Ally her life and traumatized Molly, then Sam being temporarily deafened after being trapped in an exploding limousine meant for her brand new stepmother—and let's not forget the subsequent brain damage and surgery—and her mother's cancer returning. But Kristina firmly believed everything happened for a reason. If nothing else, all of those events brought them closer as a family; her relationships with her parents and siblings couldn't be better, and, as an added bonus, she was finally the girl that got the guy—the _right_ guy—and, hey, her big sister was getting the same. Not everything that had happened was good—often far from it—but she had to believe that it was necessary and that she was right where she was supposed to be.

"But, I suppose, if all this madness didn't happen, you and I probably wouldn't be right here, right now," he said, echoing her thoughts. "And I wouldn't trade it for anything."

"Neither would I." Ethan kissed her forehead, and she leaned closer and put her head on his shoulder.

"Will we be okay?" Kristina asked as she looked over his shoulder to the set of double doors where they could hear her family noisily carrying on.

Ethan pulled back from her and placed his hands on her shoulders so he could look fully into her eyes. "Yes."

She could see that his eyes held no doubt. He said it as if it was a fact, or a promise he would gladly die before he broke.

Still, Kristina's still somewhat immature mind had many questions. But she wouldn't ask him any. It wasn't the time. "I need to tell you something, Ethan."

"Anything."

She almost couldn't stand how his simple yet powerful responses always seemed to make her stomach flip and her knees want to give. She wondered if he knew how much of a romantic he really was in her eyes.

"No matter what happens, no matter where we wind up in our lives in the future, I will always love you."

Kristina felt Ethan's muscles tense at her words. She quickly placed a gentle hand to his cheek. "I'm sorry if I'm freaking you out. I just assumed that you knew...but I just needed to _make sure_ you know. You're my best friend, Ethan. I hope you know that, too. I don't expect you to say you're in love with me or anything. Because I already know that you love me, even if it's not the same."

Kristina closed her eyes and let her head roll forward when Ethan didn't say anything back. She really didn't expect him to say he loved her back, but it made her nervous that he didn't respond at all.

"I'm such an idiot," he murmured.

"What?"

"I'm a complete idiot. I can't believe—Kristina, will you look at me?"

She slowly did as he asked, her expression a mixture of fear and curiosity.

"You and I seem to get our wires crossed quite a bit, love. How can you think, that after everything, I don't love you?"

"Well, I'm just saying, you've been a great friend—"

"And what's with all this 'friend' business? Yeah, we were friends first, and I hope always, but _you_ have to know that you are so much more to me than that. You're my...don't laugh. You are my _light_. Everything I feel for you is just...love and passion, gratitude, borderline obsessive you're-always-on-my-mind type of feelings. Sorry I'm not as eloquent an orator as you, but...I don't just love you. I'm _in love_ with you, Kristina. And before your crazy mind starts telling you that I'm just saying this because it's what I think you want to hear, you're wrong. I'm telling you this because _I_ need you to know. Do you understand?"

Kristina couldn't find her voice and felt the familiar burn of oncoming tears. She nodded her head.

"Good. Now that that's all cleared up, I can give you your gift."

"Ethan—"

"And you can't talk me out of it. Besides, it's more of a loan than an actual gift."

Ethan reached into his back pocket and took one of Kristina's hands as he cupped the object he'd retrieved.

"It isn't much. I thought about stealing something more expensive, but I didn't think a future lawyer would appreciate that too much. But this is something that's very special to me."

He finally released the brown beaded necklace into Kristina's waiting hand.

"Sorry it's a little worse for wear. My mother gave it to me when I was about ten. One day I was faking sick and insisted that I stayed home from school. I'm sure she knew I was just trying to get out of it, but she let me stay with her anyway. Around this time, she was into this 'make your own jewelry' phase, so she decided to keep me busy by helping her out. Needless to say the tables had been turned on me fairly quickly. Here I was hoping to spend the day being waited on hand and foot, and she had me doing work for her. She was probably sorrier though. I couldn't make a proper earring to save my life. But, I did manage to put beads on a string. I knew even then how lame it was, but my mother treated like it was the most priceless piece of jewelry ever made. And she said it was too special to ever give it away, and asked if she could keep it. From then 'til the day she died...she never took it off. And I've carried it around with me ever since."

"Ethan," Kristina finally said. "That's beautiful. But I can't take this."

"You're not taking it, love. I'm letting you borrow it. I fully intend on getting it back one day. It's just for when you're gone, to have something from me, you know."

Ethan looked down, almost bashfully, which surprised Kristina considering how he just looked straight in her eyes and told her all she meant to him.

"Ethan. I will carry this wherever I go, and I'll always be thinking of you. Thank you so much for this. I don't think I've ever been given anything this meaningful. Even if it's only temporary. I love you," she finished as she bit her bottom lip, testing the phrase and Ethan's reaction.

And his smile was never more beautiful to her at that moment. "I love you."

* * *

"There you are."

Sam felt the familiar pair of arms that always made her feel at home come around her waist.

"Here I am." She looked out over Sonny's balcony, at nothing really. She quickly wiped away a tear she was trying really hard not to let escape.

"I can't believe Kristina's already going to college. This doesn't even seem possible. What happened to the little girl that just wanted everyone to have tea parties with her?"

"Kids grow up, Sam. It's just what they do." Jason's voice started to drift off, and she could tell they weren't just talking about Kristina anymore.

"Yeah. Next thing we know, Molly's going to be headed off to graduate school."

"Well, it's Molly, so that might actually be sooner than later."

Sam chuckled and turned around in his arms. "Babe? Do you ever...?"

"Do I ever...? What is it?"

"It's just, I think with Kristina leaving, I'm getting really emotional and...Don't you ever think about missing this stuff with Jake? It's just, I think of it, with my daughter. I mean, I know that it's hard for you to watch him grow up with Lucky but, do you think about the big moments, like him graduating and going to college, getting married and starting a family?"

Jason took a deep breath as he tried to find the right words. "I think about missing all of the important moments of his life. But I know that he's being raised the right way. As long as I know that he's healthy and safe and happy...that has to be enough for me."

"But, what if you could have more?"

Jason tilted his head slightly and furrowed his brows. "More?"

"What if you had the chance to raise your child, without having to change your lifestyle? Would you take it?"

Sam could see him battling his thoughts internally. She knew that he didn't like to think hypothetically. Most things couldn't be changed or reversed, so there was no use in dwelling on them.

"Of course I would have liked to be a part of Jake's entire life, but I'm not."

"Okay, what if you had that chance with another child?"

Jason took a slow step back but still held onto Sam. The confusion was extremely evident on his face. As far as he knew, Sam couldn't have children of her own, and no credible adoption agency would even consider giving them a child. They had both considered surrogacy before, but...

"Sam, are you...?"

"No! I mean, I still can't...but there may be a possibility that I could."

"What do you mean?"

"I wasn't sure how to tell you but, a couple of weeks ago after a doctor's appointment, I ran into Dr. Lee. Actually, she was looking for me. She told me about this fertility reconstruction surgery that she thought I'd be a good candidate for. And nothing's guaranteed, but the few results seen have been promising. So..."

"You mean we could have a baby?" His face was still frozen in a frown, but the two of them could hear the anticipation in his voice.

"Well, like I said, it's not a hundred percent."

"But there's a chance?" Sam nodded and bit her lip, waiting for his take on things. "And this is what you want to do?"

"Jason, it's not only about me. It would have to be something we _both_ want. And I don't want you make a decision based on what you think I might want."

"That's impossible. I would do anything to make you happy, and if this is what you want, then so do I."

"Jason..." she began warningly.

"And if there is a chance that we can finally have a child, I would want to take it. Well, as long as it won't hurt you."

"Aside from the pain and the usual risks of surgery, it's practically harmless. But Jason, this surgery might not even work."

"I understand but, are we willing to miss this opportunity?"

"Jason, I would be happy for the rest of my life as long as it's with you."

"So would I, but if there's a real chance that we can have what we've always wanted, I don't think we should walk away from it because we're afraid that it might not turn out the way we want. We'll be disappointed if we do this and it doesn't work, but I think we'll regret it more if we never find out."

Sam released the large breath she'd been holding in since she found out about the surgery. Sometimes it was uncanny how well he really knew her; he just voiced the thoughts she'd been concealing. He just touched on every fear she had and found a solution for them.

"Jason...I love you _so_ much. I could only do this if you were okay with it. And I'm glad you are, because I _do_ want this. And I wouldn't want to start a family with anyone else."

Before Jason could respond, there was a tapping on the door behind them.

"Sorry to interrupt," Sonny started, "but everyone's getting ready to call it a night."

"Okay. We'll be right in," Sam answered. She tried to contain her excitement as she took Jason's hand and led them back inside.

"Alright, is everybody here?" Kristina was asking as they walked in. "Good, now...I'm not really sure what to say. Well thank you all for being here and celebrating this with me." She took in a shaky breath as she tried not to cry. "I just...I'm a little bummed that I won't be able to see you all everyday anymore." She looked out at the people around her. Her family. "I'm going to miss you all. Even you, Max and Milo. But this isn't goodbye."

Ethan reached for one of her hands from his place beside her. "I'll always be home for the holidays, and for upcoming weddings," she giggled.

"Wedd_ings_? Plural?" Sonny stood from his seat with his eyebrows raised and his arms outstretched in a question.

"Dad, calm down. _I'm_ not planning on getting married anytime soon."

"Then how's about you finish up your speech already. Some of us have to get up to work in the morning," Dante joked.

He and Kristina shared a brief unseen knowing look before Kristina continued. "Well, I think I've pretty much said it all for now. Really, I love you all so much, and I am so fortunate to have you in my life. So, not goodbye, but goodnight."

Everyone went on to give her hugs and wish her good luck in college. It was hardest for her to say goodnight to her brothers. Morgan had already been sent to some military academy, there were just her big brothers there. And as tough as they might be, Kristina could see them cracking.

"Look, no matter what, call me if you need me. I would be there as soon as possible," Dante promised her.

"Same here," Michael agreed. "Even if you just need to talk to someone about _anything_, don't hesitate to call me."

"And if anyone ever gives you any crap—"

"Guys! Really, I appreciate it. And if I absolutely need someone, I know my big brothers have my back. And you should both expect calls from me regularly. But I don't want to get in the way. I know you have your own lives. You don't need to be worrying about me all the time."

"We'll never be too busy for you, Krissy."

"Besides, we couldn't stop worrying about you if we tried," Michael said.

"Ugh, cut it out! You're going to make me cry again. Your two go back to your girlfriends before I ruin my makeup."

"Oh yeah," Dante added, "real nice about that wedding thing earlier. How about you give me a chance to actually propose before you start telling the whole world?"

"I just got a little excited, sorry. But did you see the look on Dad's face?"

"Priceless," Michael said smiling.

"Well, I'm glad you two got a laugh out of it."

"Hey," Lulu said from behind them, causing Dante to jump.

"Hey! W-what are you doing?"

"Um, just came to see Kristina before we left. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah."

"Okay," the blonde said skeptically.

"You ready to go?"

"I'm ready whenever you are."

"I'm ready."

"I don't know why you're being weird, but I'm going to find out." She turned to Kristina. "I'm really happy for you. And proud. I'm sure you're going to do great at Yale."

"Thanks, Lulu. I'm glad Dante has you. When I get back, you and I should hang out more."

"Oh. I mean, yeah, of course. I guess I'll see you then." She waved as she walked away, Dante following closely behind. He looked over his shoulder and gave his baby sister a smile and a wink.

"I should go, take Abby back home. So...one more for the road?" Michael opened his arms for a hug, and Kristina practically knocked him over when she launched herself at him. A moment later she felt herself starting to lose it again, so she quickly let go and turned her head to the side.

"I'll see you soon, Krissy." She simply nodded and refused to look at him again as he left.

"Kristina, can you drive me back to Mom's with you?"

Sam, Jason, Sonny, Max, and Milo were the only people left behind. Ethan left shortly after she gave her speech, saying she should spend as much time with the rest of her family as possible since he was going to be taking her to the airport early the next day (she insisted on settling down in Connecticut and arriving at college on her own).

"Yeah. Are you going to be staying over?"

"Yes. I'm going to spend as much time with you as I can before you have to leave. So, you ready to go?"

"Almost. I just need a couple of minutes."

"Alright. I'll be outside." Sam smiled back at Sonny before her and Jason started for the door.

"Jason, wait!" Kristina called. Stunned, Jason and Sam both turned back. "Can I talk to you for a second first?"

The enforcer inclined his head in some semblance of a nod. He looked at Sam, who released his hand and left the house.

Kristina walked over to her future brother-in-law, trying to create some privacy between the two while her dad and his bodyguards remained in the room.

"I know you're not a big talker," Kristina started, "so I figured I'd take care of that part. I just wanted to thank you for being there for my sister, for all of us, really, when we needed it. I'm grateful to have you as a part of my family, because I know that if any of us are ever in trouble, we can always count on you, Jason."

Jason marveled at the girl—_woman_—in front of him. Sam was right; the time really did fly. He remembered Kristina playing with Michael and Morgan when they were younger, and the little brat he had to reprimand for drinking with some older guys. And now, Sonny's daughter was all grown up.

Kristina was taken by surprise when Jason (with an almost imperceptible smile) leaned in to hug her, but she gladly obliged.

"I'm proud of you, Kristina. And you're right, I'll always be here if you need me."

Almost as quickly as it happened, the hug was over.

"Thanks, Jason."

"Goodnight, Kristina."

As Jason left, she chuckled thinking about how lucky she was to have her brothers, all _four_ of them.

Kristina sighed and turned around, facing the last person. If saying goodnight was the hardest so far, saying it to her father was going to be impossible.

Sonny cleared his throat. Max, taking the hint, patted Milo on the back. "We'll leave you two alone," he said. The brothers nodded at left their boss.

"So...Sam's waiting for me."

"Yeah. Don't want to keep her waiting. I guess this it, for a while."

"Dad, can we just...not?"

"What? You're leaving in a few hours. You don't want to say goodnight to your old man?"

Kristina cocked her head to the side and bit her lower lip. She seriously didn't want to cry in front of him.

"Never."

Sonny flashed his dimples in a sad, tight smile. He stepped closer and wrapped his arms around her. "I can't believe my little girl's all grown up and headed off to college."

"I know; me either. But Dad—this is the only time I'm going to say this and you can't hold it over my head—I'll always be your little girl."

Sonny laughed. "Well, yeah, I already knew that."

"Okay, let's stop this right now," Kristina ordered pulling away. "It's not like I won't see you again."

"I know. I love you."

"I love you, Dad."

They didn't bother with goodbye or goodnight. They didn't need to say anything more. It took a lot of time and hurt feelings, but the two had finally come to an understanding. They were stuck with each other forever, and neither would have it any other way.

**A/N: A couple of things: To clear up any confusion, the timeline now is around mid-August 2011, about two months after the last chapter. I'm not sure if I made it clear before in this fic, but Jake was never hit by a car. And sorry if I made Jason a little pushy with Sam, but I was just trying to show both Kristina's and Sam's insecurities a bit, and how Jason and Ethan helped them through it. And I think the Ethina bit was **_**just**_** cheesy enough. So I hope you all enjoyed. Until next time.**

**~Ashley**


	22. Chapter 22: Part Two: Never Goodbye

Alexis stood in Kristina's doorway, looking around her daughter's room noting the subtle differences. Half of Kristina's vanity was cleared off, and her opened closet looked almost foreign without the mass of clothes.

"Mom, you should be resting."

Alexis couldn't resist the urge to roll her eyes at her youngest daughter, a habit no doubt picked up from her daughters.

"I'm fi—I'm okay, Molly. Just..." she sighed and looked back to the room.

"Yeah, I know. Don't tell Kristina this, but I'm really going to miss her."

"Of course you will. You and your sisters may fight like cats and dogs sometimes, but I know you love each other to death. Sam called, they should be back any minute."

"Well Kristina's worse than me, so you should really sit down somewhere before the drill sergeant gets here."

Alexis chuckled. Molly was right, though. The clinical trial had exceeded everyone's expectations in reducing her cancer, but only made it possible for Alexis to return to chemotherapy. She was weaker now and had more bad days than good, but she would gladly do it all over again if it was the only way she could be with her family. They were a bit overwhelming at times, especially Kristina, who made it her personal duty to care for Alexis. It took everyone's pleading for her to even go to her own going away party.

"Oh, yes. Wouldn't want to get on her bad side."

"You want me to walk you to your room?"

"Sure," Alexis relented. What would be the point of arguing with the child of two lawyers that was always ready for a debate?

Once Alexis was seated on her bed, they heard the front door.

"Mom? Molly?" Kristina called.

"Mom's room!" Molly yelled back.

"There are my girls," Alexis said as Kristina and Sam entered her room.

"Sorry, were you about to go to sleep? Were we bothering you?"

"Krissy, relax," Sam laughed.

"Please. I'm not sleepy, come on in." Well, Alexis was a little tired, but that was a given lately.

"Oh. Well are you up for some girl time?" Kristina asked.

"Always."

Ten minutes later found the Davis girls atop of Alexis's bed with an assortment of junk food.

"Are you sure you're not hungry?" Molly asked her mom.

Alexis made a face and adjusted the scarf on her head. "Not for any of _this_ crap. Besides, a sugar high's not exactly the kind I need."

"Mom!" all three girls squealed.

"Oh, calm down. I was just joking."

"Were you? 'Cause if not, I could probably make a couple of calls..."

"Sam, don't. I'm really okay. It was a joke. Jeez, you three need to lighten up."

"Oh, I never thought I'd see the day when _you_ would be telling any of _us_ to 'lighten up,'" Sam teased.

"I know, right," Kristina sighed. "I guess this is going to be the last girl time with all four of us for a while, huh?"

"Only a little while. You're not leaving forever, drama queen."

Kristina sent a playful glare her little sister's way.

"Yeah, but still...I think we should do something special."

"Another impromptu karaoke session?" Molly offered.

"Hmm, I'm not really in the singing kind of mood, except for maybe, _Never Can Say Goodbye_," Sam sad softly.

"No, no, no! None of my girls are allowed to be sad right now. I absolutely forbid it. Let's stop talking about goodbyes and start talking about something a little more positive. Please, ladies, don't make me tap into my inner Shania again."

Alexis tapped Molly's nose to get a smile out of her.

"Mom's right," Sam agreed, standing from the bed. "This is not a goodbye party, or a pity party. So to lighten the mood, I give you all, for tonight only, free reign to discuss about my wedding plans."

Kristina and Molly looked at each other with wild eyes, while Alexis rolled her eyes at their overexcitement.

"Sam, are you serious?"

"Cross my heart, Dolly."

"Like, _really_? Because I've already put together this binder," Molly said as she jumped out the bed to retrieve said binder.

Sam looked back to Kristina and Alexis. "Was that a mistake?" she asked, throwing a thumb back in Molly's direction.

"You have no idea," Kristina laughed.

Molly came back with a white overstuffed binder, ready to share all of her wonderful ideas with Sam, who didn't discourage her once, even though it was unlikely that she would use all of her ideas. Kristina and Alexis had their own inputs, from what the bride should wear and who should be in the wedding party to the honeymoon destination. They turned on the radio and laughed as they faked their way through most of the lyrics.

By the end of the night, the four were awkwardly strewn about Alexis's bed, pages from the binder and candy wrappers surrounding them. At one point, Alexis woke in the midst of her slumber and almost woke her daughters up, but reconsidered when she realized how perfect the moment was. She was tempted to take out her cell phone and take a picture, but was content to just watch them and cuddle with Molly, always the closest. She threw a glance at the clock on her bed and was saddened when she realized that Kristina would be leaving very soon.

She looked at her middle child. Alexis was so grateful that after everything Kristina had been through, she was finally going to have the life she deserved. She survived so much, and was stronger because of it. She had no doubt that the already willful young woman would grow to be an unstoppable force one day.

Then Alexis's eyes rested on Sam, who she noticed was holding Kristina's hand. She chuckled, thinking of how long ago it seemed that Kristina found out she had a big sister. The connection was instant, even before Kristina learned the truth, and they formed a bond that would stand the test of time (and the times _did_ prove to be trying). Sam and Kristina were more alike than she thought they knew. Of course, they were both beautiful—all of her daughters were—but of the three, they definitely experienced the worst. And those experiences showed how vulnerable yet strong and independent, smart but sometimes naïve, how loyal almost to a fault but hesitant to trust they both were. Granted, if she could, Alexis would make it so that they never experienced the hardships they did—what parent wouldn't want that?—but she could never deny that she was proud of them.

Molly moved closer to Alexis in her sleep, the mother tried not to cry. She couldn't even fathom the day when Molly would leave her.

_Her babies!_

Sam was getting married, Kristina was going off to Yale, and Molly...she was just growing up to fast. They all were. Alexis wasn't ready. No, she'd never be able to say goodbye to them, for as long as she lived.


	23. Chapter 23: Perfect

_**A/N: Okay, so I want to apologize in advance because I didn't go back and edit this, but I was so excited to get it uploaded. Also, I'm really proud because this is the last chapter, besides the epilogue. And it's chock-full of JaSam. Some of the lines are directly from the show, but I'm not claiming anything. Feel free to ask any questions. And lastly, thank you to everyone who's still with me. I appreciate you, and your time, even through the droughts. So thank you, thank you, thank you, and I hope you ENJOY!**_

_**~Ashley**_

_**May 26, 2012**_

Sam frowned at herself in the mirror. Or, she thought she did. She almost didn't recognize woman in front of her. _This_ was Sam McCall? Unwanted child? Con artist's meal ticket? Mother's disappointment? Unlovable, second-string, failure Sam McCall?

No.

Before her was the woman that Jason always said she was, the woman he and her family saw her as. This woman was strong and smart and beautiful, _inside and out_. This woman was loved. She was worthy.

"Oh, my," Alexis breathed from behind, clasping a hand over her mouth and sufficiently breaking Sam out of her reverie.

Sam turned away from her reflection with a trembling smile. "What do you think?" she asked shakily.

Alexis shook her head with her hand still over her mouth, unable to find the right words.

"I would so hug you right now but I don't want to ruin your dress," Maxie said, her big blue eyes bright with tears.

"Jason's not going to know what hit him," Abby insisted.

"You are the most _beautiful_ bride I have _ever_ seen," Molly spoke in awe.

Maxie handed her a tissue for the girl's impending tears.

"Sam," Kristina said from their mother's side. "She's right. I already knew that you'd be gorgeous today, you always are, but...I honestly don't think I've ever seen you so..."

"So..." Molly tried to pick up where Kristina left off, but still couldn't find the right word.

"Perfect," Alexis sighed. She walked closer to Sam and carefully brought her hand to her cheek. "Not just happy, but joyous. It's radiating from you. My beautiful, favorite oldest daughter."

Sam chuckled and placed her hand over her mother's.

"I'm ready for this," she assured Alexis.

"I know. Trust me, otherwise I would be doing everything in my power to stop you."

Everyone laughed this time. "Oh I'm sure you would have," Sam said.

Everyone turned when there was a knock on the door. "Everyone decent?" Nikolas asked.

Maxie looked at Sam for approval before she gave the all-clear.

"Alright, ladies..." Nikolas's words got caught in his throat when he saw his cousin.

"I do good work, don't I?" Maxie asked him, crediting herself for Sam's dress, hair, and makeup.

Nikolas shot her a smile and nodded before turning back to Sam. "But I think she does pretty well on her own."

Sam blushed at his words. She was so appreciative that the two of them had grown closer over the past few months. Neither of them realized before how much they actually enjoyed each other's company, away from Alexis as a buffer.

"It's just about that time," he told her.

"Then that's our cue to start lining up," Maxie ordered the other four.

"Mom, please don't cry...anymore," Sam begged. She was about to fall apart herself. She needed everyone else to keep it together.

"I'm sorry, I can't promise you that."

Alexis took both of her daughter's hands and squeezed.

"I guess it's time for us to get out there," Kristina said. She tilted her head and sighed before joining her hand with Sam and Alexis. Molly, feeling a moment striking, joined them.

"Look at us Davis girls," Alexis sighed again.

"Davis _women_," Molly corrected.

"All grown up," Nikolas added from his position by the door.

"And let's not forget our honorary Davis women," Sam said, nodding her head in Maxie's direction, and then over to Abby.

Abby put her hand to her chest and held back her tears. Aside from Michael, Sam had become Abby's only family. Then she and Kristina had formed an unlikely friendship, and Molly really adored her. Before she knew it, she was a regular addition to their group. Abby walked over to the four women and put her hand atop theirs.

Maxie's eyes widened at the unexpected gesture. Sure she'd grown reaffirmed her friendship with Sam at the mention of a wedding (she really had missed their relationship), and she grew closer to the rest of them over the past months of planning, but she didn't think that earned her a spot in the family. But, Maxie was so moved by Sam's act and Molly, Kristina, and Alexis's encouraging smiles that she couldn't deny their invitation even if she wanted to. She followed their lead and placed her hand on the pile.

"You are the _most_ important women in my life. I'd be lost without you, and I'm so happy I get to share this day with all of you. You know, when I was a little girl, I used to imagine my perfect wedding day. I'd be wearing the perfect dress in a beautiful church, marrying the man of my dreams, and being surrounded by friends and family." Sam took a shaky breath as she struggled to power through her speech.

"And I never...I never thought I would get any of those things because I didn't deserve them. I never had friends or people that cared about me, but that was okay because, I wasn't the type of girl that people loved, and I would always be alone. Now I realize, though, that I was wrong. And now, I'm getting my perfect day. Without you all, it wouldn't be possible. You're my family, no matter what, and I love you."

Once she finished, Maxie was biting down on her lip in a weak attempt to keep the tears at bay, but everyone else had already lost their composure.

"You should have just said 'don't cry' and left it at that," Kristina murmured.

"Sorry," Sam said. "I just needed to get that off my chest before I went out there."

She bent slightly and lifted the heap of hands to rest a kiss on whomever's was on top. "Now clean yourselves up and get ready. I've got a wedding to get to," Sam laughed.

They then seemed to remember that Nikolas had entered the bride chambers a few moments ago to tell them to get a move on. They released each other's hands and Maxie immediately began checking that Sam's makeup was still intact while the others checked themselves in the mirror, before she readjusted her own already perfect appearance. She looked at the clock on the wall and squealed.

"Sam, you need to be out of here in _four_ minutes. Are you ready?"

"Yes! Yes, I'm beyond ready." Sam looked at Nikolas, who seemed a bit uncomfortable surrounded by all of these women. He looked like he wanted to bolt.

"Can you guys just give me a minute?" she asked. Everyone nodded and gave her excited smiles as they left the room. Nikolas was the last one left.

"If I leave you here, you won't try to climb out of a window, will you?" he joked.

"Are you kidding? After all the work Maxie put into this wedding? An angry Maxie is a very intimidating sight. Anyway, I, uh, wanted to talk to you first anyway."

Nikolas quirked an eyebrow and shut the door. "Sure. What is it?"

"I just, I know I already said it a million times and you told me not to anymore, but thank you for doing this. Thank you for being here."

"Sam, really, it's my honor to give you away today. It's an honor that you even asked me."

Sam tilted her head at her cousin and remembered fondly the moment Nikolas agreed to walk her down the aisle...

_Sam was on her way out of Kelly's when her tiniest cousin literally ran into her on his way inside the establishment._

"_Sam!" he said happily. _

"_Spencer, just the man I was looking for."_

"_Me?" he asked astonished. _

"_Yes, you. I was hoping to talk to you and your dad about something. If you don't mind me crashing your lunch, that is." She looked at Nikolas to accept her invitation._

"_Of course," he said. "We were just coming by to visit Mike. Please, join us."_

_He led them to one of the small tables in the middle of the diner he usually sat at._

"_Why were you looking for me?" Spencer asked once they were all seated._

"_I was actually hoping you could do me a favor. Now, it's kind of big, but I just know that you're the right person for the job."_

"_I can do it!"_

_Nikolas smiled fondly at his son and shook his head. "You don't even know what she was going to ask."_

"_I know, but if you're counting on me, Sam, I know I can do it."_

_Sam couldn't help but smile thinking how Spencer was just as determined and loyal to his family as his dad._

"_Well, as you know, I'm getting married soon, but Maxie just reminded me that I don't have a ring bearer, and well, I simply _cannot_ have a wedding without a ring bearer. That's where you come in."_

_Spencer widened his eyes in amazement. "You want _me_ to be the ring bearer?"_

_He looked as if Sam had just bestowed upon him the greatest role in the ceremony, and Sam and Nikolas cherished that moment._

"_Only if you think you're up to it."_

"_I am! I'm going to be the best ring bearer Sam. I promise!"_

"_Really?" Sam said with equal enthusiasm. "Thank you, so much Spencer. You're really saving me here."_

"_You're welcome. Hey, there's Grandpa Mike. Dad, can I go see him?"_

"_Yes, go ahead. I'll be over soon."_

_Spencer stood and calmly and walked over to the counter (Sam half expected the energized little boy to speed over there, but alas, he was his gentlemanly father's gentlemanly son)._

"_I hope that was okay, asking to put him in the wedding without talking to you first. Maxie and I literally just came up with the idea right before you got here."_

"_It's perfectly fine. Thank you for including him. As you can see, it really means a lot to him. So the wedding plans are coming along?"_

"_Yes. Honestly, Maxie's doing most of the grunt work, but she kept insisting so who am I to turn down her help? It's two months before the big day, and she's making sure everything is on schedule."_

"_That's good. So is everything pretty much taken care of then?"_

"_Not exactly everything. Most of the big stuff, though—the venues, menus, dresses, tuxes, priest—all taken care of."_

"_Is there anything I can do to help? Though it sounds like Maxie's got a firm hold on things."_

"_No, no..."_

_Sam's sight drifted to the ground and she fiddled with her fingers for a moment._

"_Sam?"_

"_Hmm?" she asked looking up._

"_Is everything alright?"_

"_Yeah. Hey Nik, you and I have come a long way, don't you think?"_

"_You mean from me trying to literally throw you out of Wyndemere?"_

_Both cousins grimaced at the memory. "Yes, I'd say we've come quite a long way."_

"_Me too. And I don't want to test that, but, I have a favor to ask of you, too."_

"_Anything. Well anything that's not illegal. What is it?"_

"_Um, so my wedding's turning out to be a lot more traditional than I ever pictured for me and Jason. But it's turning out great. The only thing I'm really missing, I can't really have. But I was hoping that, since it's just one day and you'll already be there, could you...give me away?"_

_Nikolas simply blinked, before he realized what she was talking about._

"_You don't have to. I wouldn't hold it against you or anything, it's just an idea," she rambled playing with her fingers again on the tabletop._

"_Sam," he stopped her as he placed his hands on top of hers. She stopped moving and glanced up at Nikolas._

"_Of course I'll give you away."_

_Sam sighed in relief and a thankful and happy smile graced her face..._

Nikolas looked down at his watch. "You have about two minutes before we need to be lined up. Would you like a minute to yourself?"

Sam nodded, appreciating that he was so understanding. "I'll be out soon," she called to him as he left the room.

Sam turned back to the full-length mirror one last time. She could never give Maxie enough credit for finding her dress. It was just the way she wanted it: simple and elegant, but still so very _Sam_. It was a beautiful white strapless gown with a sweetheart neckline, the bodice fitted and then casting off asymmetrically from her waist and flowing to the ground, which to her made it look like she was always walking on air. Of course, Maxie thought that was _too_ simple, so she worked with the designer personally to give the dress a little _bling_ on the bust and embellished subtly throughout the skirt. Sam fought with her on it until she actually put the dress on, effectively ending the argument.

She carefully lifted her dress to reveal her shoes, which were covered in crystals. They were so over-the-top and so _Maxie_, but even Sam couldn't deny that she felt like the badass royalty she almost was when she put them on. Plus, it doubled as Sam's Something New.

Abby contributed the Something Blue in the form of a _Mrs. Morgan_-monogrammed garter.

Kristina gave Sam her beautiful pair of diamond studs that Molly so coveted, checking her Something Borrowed off the list.

Alexis's Something Old was a letter that she'd asked Sam not to read until after the ceremony. That only tempted Sam even more to open it, but she followed her mother's wishes.

Sam cautiously touched her hair, which was curled and put into an elegant high bun with only and few tendrils by either temple touching her cheeks.

There was another knock on the door, and Sam knew it would be the last. "They're ready for you," Nikolas called through the door.

She spared one last glance at her reflection, sharing a secret smile with her as she pressed a hand against her abdomen.

"Okay, butterfly, time to get married."

She couldn't contain the emotions that rushed over her at the moment. Once she opened the door to Nikolas, her tears were clouding her vision.

"I suppose this is where I give you the generic, you-can-still-change-your-mind-and-we'll-get-out-of-here spiel. But I'm pretty sure I already know what you'd say to that. So," Nikolas bent his arm and offered it to her, "shall we?"

* * *

Jason had eagerly awaited this moment. He was about to marry the woman he loved than he ever thought possible. He had been patient throughout the wedding preparations, but now he just needed her to walk down the aisle so he could finally make her his wife. He stood next to Father Coates at the head of the church and fondly remembered the last time he spoke to her...

_Jason and Sam were soon going to part ways, having been told a thousand times that they couldn't see each other before the wedding. Jason thought it was ridiculous and Sam found his reaction hilarious, and was hysterical when she saw his face once she told him that's what they would be doing. After Jason whined about her sisters' and Maxie's influence and meaningless traditions, he gave up the fight._

_So after the wedding rehearsal, they met up outside the church to say their goodbyes (though Maxie had sent Jason home fifteen minutes before Sam so they wouldn't see each other again until the big day). Jason tried one more time to get Sam to change her mind, but she wouldn't budge._

"_Fine, if that's really what you want."_

_Sam sighed and leaned into him. "What I want is for today to be over so we can be married already."_

"_We have the marriage license, we could always just elope."_

_She pulled away from Jason and frowned at him._

"_Okay, have it your way," he answered. "Tomorrow, I'm going to stand up in front of all those people that make me absolutely crazy to say that I love you. And of course, to do this."_

_Jason titled his head down and Sam gladly met him halfway. They shared a slow, sweet kiss, before Sam reluctantly pulled away. "Okay, we should go before Maxie catches us breaking the rules."_

"_It's against the rules to kiss my own wife? That's crazy."_

_Sam grinned widely._

"_What?" Jason asked._

"_You just called me your wife."_

"_I know. I think it suits you."_

"_Why, thank you, my husband." Sam laughed and kissed him again. "But really, I should go before Maxie hunts me down."_

_Jason sighed. "If we ever have a party for anything ever again, that woman is not allowed to do any of the planning."_

_Sam laughed. "Not even for Butterfly's shower?"_

"_Not even," he reiterated._

"_We'll see. I might not be able to control that. I can't wait until tomorrow. We're going to married. Legally husband and wife. And then we get to party with our friends and family. And then you're going to dance with me."_

"_Oh, so I'm going to dance? Is that a fact?"_

"_Yep. Even though you hate to dance."_

"_I do. But maybe it's time I break some of my own rules. I will dance everyday for the rest of our lives if it makes you happy."_

"_Mmm." Sam rested her head on Jason's chest. "I love you, Jason. You have already made me the happiest woman in the world. I'm going to spend the rest of my life with you."_

"_I don't know what I did to deserve you, Sam McCall, but I'm glad I did." He sighed heavily, and Sam felt his breath on the top of her head. "We are getting married tomorrow."_

"_Unless you can come up with a better idea," Sam joked._

"_No," he answered seriously. "This is what I want. I want you." He squeezed her closer to him and put his chin on Sam's head. _

And now, that was just what he was getting.

Jason barely registered the music beginning to play. Alexis came out first by herself, her cropped hair combed back and her royal blue gown flowing behind her. He may have smiled at her as she took a seat in the front row; he wasn't really sure. Sonny was next, escorting his daughter. Kristina was beaming, and Sonny gave Jason a wink before he took his place beside him. Next were Spinelli and Maxie with linked arms, Maxie holding a bouquet of white flowers. _Did Kristina have flowers too?_ he wondered briefly. He shook the thought from his head and tried to focus.

The next pair to enter the room was Michael and Abby, who stood much closer than the previous couple, Jason noted. Both Abby and his nephew smiled genuinely at him. Before they had completely taken their positions, Morgan and Molly entered. Jason couldn't help but notice how emotional his almost-sister-in-law was. Morgan looked over to her and rolled his eyes when he saw her tears. When they reached their destination, Molly stopped to take a moment to hug Jason quickly, while Morgan simply winked at him, carbon copy of his father, some would swear.

Then and regal-looking Spencer Cassidine walked through the entrance, head held high while making sure to not drop the pillow that held the sacred rings. He had a thousand-watt grin, though, and for just a split second, Jason could see Courtney in that smile. Shortly after, Josslyn started down the aisle in her white and powder blue flower girl dress, looking lost for a moment. Then she saw Carly, who was motioning for Joss to take the flower petals out of the basket and scatter them like they practiced. After a slow start and a few laughs from the crowd, the adorable little girl managed to get at least some petals on the ground, though mostly in clumps. When she was finished she walked over to her godfather instead of standing next to Molly like she was supposed to. Jason simply patted her back and guided her to Kristina, who took care of the rest.

The music, along with the air, shifted. Everyone stood and turned towards the entrance, awaiting the bride. And just like that, Jason's focus was sharp again. He wasn't sure why he was thrown off in the first place. He thought with such clarity now. Any second now, Sam was going to appear and give him everything he ever wanted. And that was all that mattered. In that moment, any nerves or fears or whatever he had, were squelched.

And then he saw her.

He was right not to be worried. He was about to be given the chance to spend the rest of his life with this woman. How was he so lucky?

She was flawless. Her smile, her dress, it was all so perfect. The way she was looking at him, he could probably die happy in that moment. He knew her smile was mirroring his, and no, he didn't care who saw. Today, everyone was to know what Sam meant to him.

As she neared him, he felt his heart beat less erratically, and he would swear he could almost hear her heartbeat syncing with his, like it always did when he held her in his arms.

She was right in front of him now, and he only broke their gaze to shake Nikolas's offered hand. Then he was back to admiring her. He wondered if he would ever stop thinking that she was more beautiful today than she was yesterday.

_Probably not_.

She stood beside him and tried to focus on Father Coates's words and instructions. She acted numbly through the ceremony, lost in Jason's essence. Sam felt like she was in two places at once; her mouth was saying all the right things in response, but in her mind she was freaking out. She was marrying Jason. She was starting a family with him. This man who she loved, and who loved her back just as fiercely, as passionately, as fully. She couldn't believe her fortune sometimes.

Father Coates asked for the rings, which Spencer proudly brought forth.

Jason and Sam both took each other's ring. Jason took a moment to look dotingly at the band he held. His eyes returned to Sam's as he began to speak.

"This is, uh, my grandmother's ring. She wore it for over fifty years. Through it all they loved each other. My grandfather gave it to me to give to you."

Sam smiled affectionately at him. The words were meant for her, but she knew that most of the guests probably heard, too. Not all of them would understand how important to action was, to be given such a cherished piece of Jason. Not only from his grandfather Edward, who was accepting her as a part of his family, but from Jason, who was sharing with her a part of the woman he held so dearly even after he parted ways with the rest of his family. She chuckled as she looked down to the ring she held.

"Your mother gave me this ring, and it was your father's. And she said that he would want you to have it, and their love lasted a lifetime. And so, so will ours."

The couple smiled at each other in silence, which Father Coates took as a sign to continue the ceremony.

Sam could barely contain her excitement. She almost wanted to slap herself for being so giddy, but she couldn't help it.

"Do you, Samantha McCall, take this man to be your husband? To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, forsaking all others as long as you both shall live?"

"I do," she answered while sliding the ring on Jason's finger.

"And do you, Jason Morgan, take this woman to be your wife? To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, forsaking all other as long as you both shall live?"

"I do."

"Then by the powers vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride."

Jason placed a hand on Sam cheek and wiped away a tear, before leaning down to gently touch his lips hers.

Sam tuned out the hoots and howls from their guests when the music began to play again as she snaked a hand on the back of Jason's neck and pulled him closer. After indulging her for a moment, Jason pulled back with a look of surprise at her brazenness.

"There's plenty of time for that later," he whispered in her ear.

* * *

"You know what I think?" Sam asked from her seat, in between mingling with everyone. "I think this day has been perfect."

"I think it is." Jason stood and held out his hand. Sam bit her lip to keep her smile from splitting her face in half. She had asked him to dance with her at least once on their wedding day, but this was the third time they were going to, and Sam wasn't about to let her aching feet cause her a missed opportunity. Besides, she was getting the feeling that Jason enjoyed dancing with her in public.

Sam couldn't stifle her excitement anymore and let out a squeal, causing Jason to look down at her questioningly.

"We really did it," she said. "We really got married."

"I know."

"I didn't think it was possible to be so happy."

"It's crazy," he agreed hesitantly. "Is that okay with you?"

Sam's eyebrows rose. "What? Being happy?"

"I know sometimes it scares you." He remembered all those times she would pull away from him just when he was opening up to her, always afraid that the other shoe would drop in their relationship.

"Not with you," Sam said quietly, but with resolve. "I still can't believe we're married, though. And I feel so free. Jason I feel free. We just made a lifelong commitment to each other and I..." She shook her head, unable to accurately describe the blissful feeling.

"We are free. Free to be together. And...free from all of this wedding stuff."

"Hey! You have to admit, it was a great wedding."

"It was."

"It was the best."

"I'm not disputing that. I'm just saying, I'll be glad to not have to deal with Maxie's neurotic wedding planning."

Sam laughed. "I'll be sure to tell her that." She sighed and rested her head against his chest again. "I'm so happy, Jason. I've got you and our little butterfly. Our friends and family. It was a perfect day."

"Well, the day's not over yet, Mrs. Morgan."

He didn't know how crazy he was driving her when he called her that.

"I love you, Mr. Morgan," she baited.

"I love you, Mrs. Morgan. Always."

She smiled and closed her eyes, savoring the moment, memorizing everything she felt in his arms. She had everything she ever wanted and needed.

* * *

"Most romantic wedding EVER!" Molly squealed.

"It better be. You have no idea how many disasters I had to avert dealing with this wedding. It's been a constant migraine. I, for one, am happy it's finally over." Maxie took a relaxing sip from her champagne flute.

"Trust me Maxie, it was worth it," Abby said as she watched the newly married couple sway in each other's arms.

Maxie couldn't help but smile at the sight of them. "Yeah..."

"They deserve it," Kristina said. She looked around the dance floor and saw her father dancing with his ex, Kate. Alexis wasn't too far away dancing with Mac, and from the way she was giggling, she'd probably had a few already.

"Ahem, sorry to intrude ladies." Spinelli approached them with his hands clasped behind him. "I was just wondering if, Maxie, would you honor me with a dance?"

Maxie quickly mentally checked all of the things that were supposed to be taken care of and, after deciding that her work was more or less done, accepted Spinelli's offer.

"Those two are so going to get back together," Kristina said confidently, Abby and Molly nodding their heads in agreement.

Soon after, Michael came and stole Abby away to the dance floor.

"I can't believe Sam got married. It's kind of sad. I mean, it's like, the end of an era."

"What do you mean?" Kristina asked her sister.

"Well, Sam's got Jason, Mom's finally opening up to Mac, you have Ethan, and I have...well, the point is, now we have new people in our lives to turn to. Eventually, we might not even need each other."

"Dolly, you are the smartest kid I know, but sometimes you say the dumbest things."

"Hey!" Molly answered with a pout.

"No matter who we date or marry or whatever, we'll still need each other. We're a family, and not just by blood. The thing that'll keep us together is our love for each other, and _nothing_ can ever take that away. Pinky promise."

Molly rolled her eyes but still smiled and linked Kristina's pinky with hers.

A voice clearing behind them broke their contact.

"Dad!"

Ric smiled at his daughter, still thankful every time she called him that.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I was invited. I came to see you. And if your sister doesn't mind, could I borrow you for a while."

"Sure. What for?"

"I'd like to dance with the most beautiful girl here, of course."

Molly rolled her eyes again. "You're such a dork. But, I would love to dance."

Kristina watched, happy for her baby sister, as she laughed while Ric let her stand on his toes like he used to when they were younger. She was so happy her uncle Ric had made the decision to stay in Port Charles for Molly. It was what the girl needed in her life at the time. Seriously, it was time for the Davis girls to get over their daddy issues.

"What are you doing sitting down when there's a perfectly good dance floor and a perfectly handsome date waiting for you to make good use of them?"

Kristina's smile widened. "Well, I've been waiting for a certain someone to ask me to dance."

"Oh, is that right?"

"Mmm-hmm."

"Well then, allow me." He comically bowed before her. "Kristina, love, would you please join me in a dance."

"Well, my 'certain someone' hasn't shown up yet, so I suppose you'll do."

"Very funny." Ethan straightened has held his hand out to her, which she gladly accepted.

"You're very good at this," Kristina commented after he twirled her.

"I've had some practice."

Kristina blushed, thinking of the many times they'd gone dancing back east, which usually ended in a trip back to her apartment where they would make quick work of ridding each other of their clothes.

"You're gorgeous," he said unprompted.

"You're not so bad yourself."

Ethan watched her for a moment before lightly pecking her lips. Then he continued to stare at her as they danced. His eyes hardened for a bit as she saw the gears turning in his mind. She usually equated this look to Ethan about do something unexpected or mischievous, but then his eyes softened again and a smile spread across his face.

When he didn't say anything, Kristina's curiosity became overwhelming.

"What?" she demanded.

Ethan's smile grew and he placed his mouth close to her ear and whispered.

"I'm going to marry you someday."


	24. Chapter 24: Miss You Too

_**October 9, 2024**_

Sam sat alone on the porch swing of the lake house, wringing an old piece of paper in her hands. She had arrived at least twenty minutes earlier, but couldn't bring herself to open the front door. She looked off towards the road as she heard another car pass by. Smoothing out the paper she held, she felt a sense of resolve.

She and her sisters had been putting this off for almost a month now. None of them wanted to deal with the reality of clearing out the lake house, but Mac had been insistent that they finally come to sort through Alexis's things.

About five years after Sam walked down the aisle and with some convincing on the groom's part, Alexis and Mac tied the knot and lived together happily in the girls' former home, where they stayed happily for the next eight years.

"Not ready to go in yet?"

Her sister's voice interrupted Sam's straying thoughts. She smiled sadly at Kristina, who gave her a knowing look.

"No, I'm ready. I was just waiting for you guys."

"Molly's not here yet?" Sam shook her head. "Do you think she's gonna show?"

Sam sighed and didn't answer. Instead, she patted the seat next to her. Kristina joined her on the swing. They both instinctively reached for the other's hand.

Sam's fingers ran across the gold band on Krissy's ring finger. It was still hard to believe sometimes how much her sisters had grown up; all three of them were married now, and Molly was expecting her first child. Sam wasn't caught off guard so much by Molly's nuptials, but by Kristina's. Ironically, Molly was more hesitant about getting married. She'd been dating her boyfriend Tyler for four years, and he had unsuccessfully asked Molly to marry him on three different occasions. She still had residual trepidation of not being able to live up to the epic love stories of her mother and sisters. She met Tyler in her junior year of college in a Creative Writing class, and the two bonded over their love of classic novels. He was a bit awkward, but so was she. She was more adventurous than him, and he was more logical, and their attraction and love for one another was undeniable. Alexis saw how perfect the two of them were together and told her youngest child that she was being a fool if she was thinking about letting him go. Once Molly was positive that she'd be happy with him and that she could and would love him for the rest of their lives together, she finally said 'yes' to his proposal.

Kristina didn't have any reservations about accepting Ethan's marriage proposal. In true Lovett fashion, he proposed during dramatically in the heat of the moment. He'd just gotten arrested after a bar fight, and Kristina was pissed to have to go bail him out. She was just getting her career started, and the last thing she needed was for anyone to know that she constantly associated with criminals. That's why she used the last name Davis throughout her career in the first place. As the two argued about the cause of the fight while they were gathering his belongings, Ethan chose that moment to reveal the ring he'd bought for her. He rendered her speechless and took that chance to slip the ring on her finger.

Sam was woken up in the middle of that night by her cell phone buzzing on the nightstand. Kristina had Molly on the other line and excitedly told them that she was getting married. Sam tried her best not to scream and wake the newborn sleeping in a bassinet next to their bed and squealed instead, which startled Jason out of his sleep. She told him the news and the first thing he asked was if Sonny knew. That's when Kristina surprised them by telling her that Ethan had actually told Sonny before he told her, and Sam, Molly, and Jason were all shocked to learn that Ethan had his blessing. Sam smiled as she remembered their mother crying at the news when Kristina came to town to tell her in person.

Sam took her free hand and ran it down Kristina's bobbed hair, similar in style to her own, but dyed to an almost blonde shade.

"Molly said she would be here. We can't do it without her. She said she was ready this time."

Kristina nodded, but she wasn't so convinced. They weren't as close as they wished to be geographically, but they still spoke to each other on a near-daily basis. Sam and Jason had moved just outside of Port Charles before their firstborns, twins Dalia and Emalia, were born, Molly had moved back home after earning her Masters, and Kristina had settled in Manhattan. Kristina was in the midst of establishing her own law firm with two other lawyers she met at Yale. She really enjoyed taking pro bono cases, and she could pull it off thanks to the smart decisions she made with any money she ever earned or was given. It also didn't hurt that Ethan was a good businessman in his own right, having made the Haunted Star mobile again and offering cruises on the portable casino. Eventually he was able to just be on the Star when he felt like it—entrusting employees with running the ship—and spend as much time with Kristina as he wanted. Sam and Spinelli's P.I. business had been running strong for years. Since becoming a mother, though, Sam delegated most of the field work, only getting directly involved when it was necessary or she just started getting an itch for it again. Molly wasn't even in her thirties yet and was already a best-selling author. They all had good lives, for the most part.

Almost six months ago, Alexis found out that her lung cancer had returned once again. She seemed at peace with her diagnosis; she had finally married the man of her dreams, Mac, and had witnessed all of her daughters get married. She lived her life to the fullest, and she accepted that her fight was coming to an end. Molly butted heads often with her mother and sisters during Alexis' last few months. She felt that her mom was just giving up too easily and that her sisters were just as bad because they had stopped their efforts to urge their mother to fight for her life.

Up until the last few weeks of Alexis's life, Molly was estranged from them. She was obviously having a difficult time accepting the reality of the situation. Unlike her sisters, she hadn't been worried about her mother ever getting sick again after she'd gotten her miracle with the clinical trial years ago. Molly expected her mother to live well into her nineties, at least. The turning point for her was learning that she was going to have a baby. She and Tyler were thrilled at the news, and the first thing she wanted to do was call her mother. Then she remembered that her mother wasn't expected to live past Molly's second trimester. It was the first time she let herself cry since her mother's diagnosis. Tyler held her and knew that that was his best chance at getting Molly to see that she needed to be sharing these few happy moments with the rest of her family.

So Molly conceded and went running to her mother. She quickly made up with her sisters, and shared her baby news. When she and her mom had a moment alone, Alexis promised that she would still be there when her newest grandchild was born, even if she wasn't there physically.

All three daughters took their mother's death pretty hard, but Molly probably had the hardest time coping. Alexis had let it be known that she wanted all of her girls to have any possessions she kept in her house, but that she wanted them all to do it together. Molly couldn't bring herself to go back to her childhood home at first, but after a few failed tries she insisted that she was prepared to do it this time.

"What's that?" Kristina asked, pointing to the wrangled paper in Sam's lap.

Sam had almost forgotten she had it. "Oh. It's...the letter Mom gave me on my wedding day. I had it framed, but lately...I don't know. I just felt like I needed to carry it with me."

Kristina understood completely. She carried a picture of her mother in a locket kept close to her heart.

"What does the letter say? You don't have to tell me," Kristina quickly added, not wanting to invade her sister's privacy.

"No, it's alright. I actually wanted to share this with you and Molly. Mom wrote this to me for my fifth birthday, but she didn't have anywhere to send it so she held on to it all those years. Do you...want me to read it to you?"

Kristina nodded and smiled encouragingly, hearing the way her sister's voice shook slightly. Sam took a deep breath and lifted the page up a little closer, and began to read.

"'_My precious baby,_

_You are five years old today. You're not even a baby anymore. It's almost hard to believe. I just know that you are the most beautiful, loving little girl in the world. I wish you knew how much I miss you every day. But I know that you are living the life you're supposed to live. Still, there are so many things I want to tell you, things my mother told me and the things she didn't get the chance to tell me. _

_First and foremost, I love you. I love you every second of every day with every piece of me, and nothing will ever change that. I hope you realize this one day. Saying goodbye to you was the hardest thing I have ever done. My heart breaks now just thinking about it._

_There are so many things I want for you._

_I hope you believe in magic...and rainbows make you smile. Know that you are special._

_Know that it's okay to be scared sometimes. But never forget to stand up for yourself, and for those who can't do it for themselves. And don't try to be perfect. Trust me, it's overrated. Just try to be a good person. Good people make mistakes, too. _

_Most of all, I want you to be happy. I want you to find love and maybe start a family of your own one day. And please, remember that I'm always thinking of you and sending my love for you out into the universe, hoping you'll feel it._

_You probably won't even read this, but it doesn't make anything I've written less true. We may not be together now, but no matter what, the indescribable love I have for you, my daughter, will never fade._

_Love, _

_Alexis.'"_

Sam barely made it through the last line, and both sisters had tears streaming freely down their cheeks.

"I just thought," Sam breathed, "you and Molly should hear that. She may have written it to me, but she meant it about all of us."

Kristina nodded and hummed, unable to speak.

"I just wish Molly..."

"I heard it."

Sam's and Kristina's heads snapped up to the source of the voice. Molly stood at the edge of the porch with her hands over her sweater-clad seven-month baby bump. Her long curled hair was swept back in a loose ponytail. She'd arrived shortly after Kristina, and was preparing out of her sisters' sight to walk to the door, stopping when she heard Sam start to read the letter.

"Molly!" Kristina stood quickly and took a step closer to her baby sister. "I...you're here."

"I'm here." Molly looked down and wiped the tears from her pink cheeks before clearing her throat. "That was...Mom's letter...it was..."

"Molly?" Sam questioned, rising from her seat. She and Kristina both went to their sister's side. "Sweetie, are you okay?"

Molly shook her head with a watery smile as her sisters reached for her arms.

"No, I'm alright. I just, I think it might have been exactly what I needed to hear."

After embracing each other for a few much needed minutes, Molly pulled away.

"Is Mac inside?"

"No, he's at Maxie's with the kids," Sam answered. "He said he wanted to give us as much time and space as we needed. So, are we good to do this?"

Kristina looked to Molly expectantly, who nodded her head furiously. "It's now or never. Let's go."

She took out her spare key and unlocked the front door, only pausing briefly before crossing the threshold. Sam and Kristina followed closely behind into the quiet house. It had been a while since Molly had been here, and the distinct familiar scent of _home_ embraced her.

Over the next hour, the girls went through their old rooms and their mother's, which Mac permitted them to look through. He'd left boxes in the living room for them to carry what they needed. Most of their personal belongings had long been removed from the house, so they went through Alexis's closet and jewelry boxes. They each decided that they would take the pieces and later divide them out evenly, not only among themselves, but for all the women of their family, including Robin, Maxie, and all of the women's daughters. The last things they looked through were the photographs.

Alexis had kept many pictures of Kristina and Molly's childhood and many, many more family photos from weddings, but most of them were of her grandchildren. The three sisters sat on the sofa of the living room going through photo albums. They nearly forgot their initial purpose for being there as they reminisced together.

Sam chuckled as she found a picture of Alexis with her and Jason's children. Her five-year old son Danny was held by his grandmother and eleven-year-old twin daughters, Dalia and Emalia, were giving her a kiss on each cheek.

Danny was the most rambunctious kid ever. He was in this stage where he was emulating all of the older males in his life. He loved to copy everything his father and Michael did, and was always enraptured by the stories his Uncle Spinelli and Grandpa Mac told about various adventures he wanted to go on one day. He especially looked up to his older brother Jake, who he'd developed a great relationship with. Also, Danny was so innocently nice to everyone that it reminded Sam everyday of his namesake.

The twins were as different as night and day, from their appearance to their personalities. Dalia's bone-straight honey blonde hair reached her olive-toned shoulders, while Emalia insisted on never cutting her unruly raven curls that touched the middle of her back. They both had light freckles sprinkled across their nose and cheeks, but it was more obvious on Em's fairer skin, who was about an inch taller than her sister. Dalia was quieter like Jason. She liked to watch people and things intently. Sam never knew what she was really thinking most of the time. Emalia was just as outspoken as her mother, but probably with even less of a filter between what she thought and what she said. Most of the time people would think it was cute, but sometimes she had to be reminded that saying certain things might come off as rude. Em was also more prone to get into trouble due to the love of adventure-seeking she inherited from both of her parents. She loved hanging out with the guys at school and she played ice hockey. Dee preferred reading to rowdiness. She was a gymnast; it was her own way to get that adrenaline rush that her sister got from being on the ice.

They were so different and often fought over those differences. But they also loved and protected each other fiercely, which reminded Sam so much of her sisters.

"Oh, I love this one," Kristina sighed. She pointed to a group picture of "the girls." It was at a beach picnic about a year earlier, and for the first time since Alexis and Mac's wedding all of them were present. In the photo, Alexis sat in the sand surrounded by her daughters, Em and Dee, Maxie, Abby, Lulu, and Robin, as well as Robin's daughter Emma and mother Anna. Even the busy Diane and Kate were able to make it. The picture taken after that was of the reluctant men in the group; Mac, Sonny, Jason, Patrick, Ethan, Tyler, Dante, Michael, Morgan, Nikolas, Spencer, and Danny. Ric had resorted to covering his face with his hand. Danny, who was in his father's arms, was the only one showing a full smile. Alexis always said that that day was a miracle. If it wasn't for Molly, who invited them all to celebrate the release of her second novel, all of these people most likely would never have come together.

"How about this one?" Molly pointed to a picture of Alexis holding a newborn Danny with Mac beside her, both looking down lovingly at the boy. Molly again thought about missing that moment with her mother, but she tried to remember what Alexis told her about always being there.

Sam pointed to the picture of Mac and Alexis on their wedding day. In that moment, her mother was completely and irrefutably happy in that moment. She was glad that Alexis got the chance to know that kind of love.

"I think we should take out some of these and make Mac a special photo album," Molly suggested.

"Yeah. He'd really like that," Sam agreed.

The last photos they looked at sat in frames on the mantle. Of the various pictures, they were all drawn to one in particular. It was of just the four of them, taken on Alexis's bed during the Girls' Night they shared the first time after she told them the cancer had returned. It was a sad night, but they somehow managed to pull themselves together and have fun. Alexis wouldn't let them be sad. She taught them to see the light when there seemed to be nothing but gloom. Because of her, they were able to smile at rainbows.

"It's so different now," Molly commented.

"What's that?" Kristina asked.

"It's just...It's the strangest feeling. I still wake up and think about calling her. And some days, I just don't know what I'm supposed to do, you know?"

"Dolly..." Kristina rubbed her sister's back. "There is no right way you're supposed to deal with something like this."

"We know what you mean," Sam told her. "She's our mother. It's hard to say goodbye to someone you love that much, who was such a major part of your life. I won't tell you that it'll get better. It will hurt, especially now. But it's what we do with that hurt, how we spend the rest of our days honoring her that will help with the pain. Just don't forget what she wanted us to be happy. And we will be. It'll just take some time."

Molly reached out to the picture, touching the image of her mother's face. She bit her bottom lip, trying not to let her sobs escape. Kristina saw this and tried to make her feel better.

"And remember," she said, "we're you're sisters and we're going through it too. So if you need to stop being strong and just cry, we'll be here for you, okay?"

Molly chortled and nodded. "We're going to be okay, right?"

Sam turned and grabbed one of her sisters' hands. "Of course we are. How could we not? We're the Davis girls."

"Davis _women_," Molly corrected.

"Right." Kristina took Molly's free hand in hers. "We may have been screwed up, but look how far we've come."

"And it's because we have each other," Sam said.

"You're right. No one else could ever understand us like we do," Molly laughed, her sisters chuckling in agreement.

"Nope," Kristina reiterated. "It's a family thing. And that's the one thing we'll always have, no matter what."

_**A/N: This be it, folks. The next chapter is an author's note. Read it, please. Or don't. I have no control over you whatsoever. (Or do I...)**_


	25. AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hello everyone! Guess I have a little bit of control. Good to know. Well, it has literally been years in the making, but _**It's A Family Thing**_ is finally complete. The ending was bittersweet, which is kind of how I like it. I'm kind of hoping you all liked it too. Seriously, thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who's shown me support by reading and leaving comments. It was really great encouragement to give you all the quality I thought you deserved. I appreciate you all.

Like I've said before, this was my first fanfiction, and I have really enjoyed this experience. And for those of you who enjoyed my story, I'm going to do a bit of shameless self-promotion (okay, there's a little shame). Please, check out some of my other stories on here if you haven't already. In between updating my currently uploaded multi-chapter stories, _Changes, Baby Dramas, _and_ It's Complicated_, I will start posting a sort of interim multi-chapter fic called _Enchanted_. Feel free to check it out.

Okay, enough of the desperate plea for publicity. The point of this author's note really was to thank you for joining me on this awesome journey. And because the number 24 rubbed me the wrong way, and I always thought 25 is a great number. If you ever have any questions, requests, advice, or if you just want to tell me to shut up, let me know. One last time, thank you thank you, thank you. I love you all. Well, I like you. Okay, I obviously need sleep. Hope you all have a great day. G'nite.


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